Born In The Shadows
by Lady Darkness Diamond
Summary: He was created as a science experiment. A dark creature meant to show no emotion. To follow orders and never disobey his masters. To serve without question. He is Shadow Lugia, and this is his story.
1. Creation

DragonMaster Reborn: After playing Pokemon XD I decided to write this story. Since  
Lugia is a psychic type it can talk to people. And it can breathe in water as well.

Xadius: This is from Shadow Lugia's point of view. And keep in mind that it is a Shadow

Pokemon and therefore not the nicest pokemon in the world. This chapter won't be to long  
but the next chapter will be longer. Read and Review people!

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia talking_

Chapter One: Creation

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"It's waking up! It's brain waves are off the scale!" scientists ran back and forth checking different machines. 'Voices...where are they coming from?' he thought.

"Shadow Lugia is awake! Inform Master Greevil immedietly!" more voices shouted. He opened his eyes and realized he was in a tank of some kind, full of some type of liquid. 'Lugia? Is that who I am?' he thought taking a deep breath. The liquid in the tank had a nasty taste to it. Lugia twisted and look around, there were sharp things stuck in it's body. 'Where am I? What am I doing here?' he thought.

"This is amazing! The first ever Shadow Pokemon to be created that way from birth! Prepare a cage for it" another said. Lugia closed it's eyes and tried to spread it's wings but was stopped by the glass. The tank seemed to tighten around him, 'I have to get out...I have to get out!' he thought his eyes glowing blue.

The glass cracked and exploded out, Lugia fell to the bottom of the tank. Lugia stared at the water as it drained out onto the floor. The creature staring back at him was purple in color with red eyes, Lugia lifted it's wing and the creature did the same. Lugia tilted his head and the creature did the same. 'Is that me?' he thought lifting his head and looking around.

One of the scientists walked forward and leaned down, Lugia looked up at him. _Where am I?_ his voice echoed throughout the room. The scientist ignored him and stuck something in his throat, Lugia coughed as the man finally took it out.

"Temperature is 95.7 degrees" he said to the others. One woman quickly wrote something down. The scientist flashed a bright light in his eyes. Lugia recoiled, "Eyes are equal and reactive, everything seems normal" he said standing up. Lugia was growing angry, _I said where am I? _Lugia asked again.

But the people didn't answer, they simply conversed among themselves. The man pulled his wing out and stuck his wing with something sharp, when the man pulled it out it was filled with something red, "I've got a blood sample take this to the lab and check to make sure it's not infected" he said to another person.

Lugia narrowed his eyes, 'It? Is that all I am? A creature to be poked and prodded? A thing to be stared at? That's not acceptable' he thought. The man reached out again and Lugia bit his hand as hard as possible, the man cried out and pulled his hand away. "You little!" he reach down again as Lugia's eyes glowed blue, _I asked you a question!_ Lugia shouted as the man lifted the man off of his feet and flew into the wall.

Lugia's anger grew and he narrowed his eyes pushing the man threw the wall. Everyone back away, one checked the man, "He's dead..." the woman said looking back at Lugia. 'I did that?' Lugia thought surprised as he turned to a strange machine sitting on a desk, he focused and picked it up and threw it into another tank like the one he was in.

Lugia turned to the other scientists, _Who am I? _he asked. One stepped forward, "You are Shadow Lugia the first pokemon to be born with it's heart closed. Your the first in a series of pokemon that can never have their hearts opened, you are XD001 the first pokemon ever created in this manner" she explained walking up to him. She reached down and rubbed his head gently, Lugia flinched back, it felt strange and unnatural.

_What are you going to do with me now? _ Lugia asked them. The woman stood back up, "Your going to be examined so we can make sure your not sick or hurt" she told him. Lugia looked at the others carefully; they were tense as they waited to see what he would do.

_Where am I? _Lugia finally asked. "At a labratory in our desert laboratory, we took a DNA sample from a Lugia and used it to create you. Most pokemon must have their hearts shut thus turning them into Shadow Pokemon, but you were created with your heart closed, you are the most important Shadow Pokemon we have ever made" a man explained to him.

'A Shadow Pokemon...I was...created by them' Lugia thought staring back down at the water still in the bottom of the tank.

_Oh...okay,_ he said simply. The other scientists relaxed and began making preparations. Lugia watched as they rushed around preparing different machines.

Lugia was still confused, 'Why am I here? What is my purpose?' he thought. He pulled away as one scientist attached small pads to his head and back. 'What am I supposed to do now' he looked up as the door opened. All of the scientists snapped to attention as a short man walked in; 2 men one wearing blue and the other wearing red came in behind him.

"Master Greevil! XD001 is ready sir!" one of the scientists told the short man. Greevil walked forward and looked at Lugia with a smile. "It's perfect! Absolutely perfect! This Lugia will usher in a new era for Team Cipher" he said examining the small Lugia.

_Why did you create me?_ Lugia asked. The man in Blue took a step forward, "I am Ardos, you were created for Master Greevil here; Team Cipher is trying to control the Orre region using Shadow Pokemon but to do that we need your abilitys" Ardos explained. _You...need me?_ Lugia asked them.

Greevil nodded, "You may be small now you will grow bigger and more powerfull, we will help you control your..." he paused and looked at the man Lugia had thrown through the wall. "Your powers, you'll only be a danger to yourself and others if you can't control your shadow abilitys" he said obviously pleased.

Lugia shook his head, he didn't really understand everything they told him. Lugia was still confused, but he could learn what was going on, if they needed him then he would go along with them for now. But he was **not** just a creature to be prodded and stared at, if these humans every forgot that...then he wouldn't be so compliant.

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DragonMaster Reborn: I know this chapter isn't that long but next chapter Shadow Lugia begins learning more about himself and his world.

Xadius: Hope you liked it, now press that little button down there and review please.

DragonMaster Reborn: Peace out everybody!


	2. Emotion

DragonMaster Reborn: In this chapter Lugia meets someone who will influence him greatly

in this story.

Xadius: Lugia may be the greatest Shadow Pokemon ever created, but for now he's still a

baby and very curious about everything. And Maria is just a character we made up.

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia talking_

Chapter Two: Emotions

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Trying to get a baby Lugia to sit still was like getting a rock to tap dance Maria decided. As the head scientist, it was her job to make sure Lugia was heathy and happy. 'As happy as a Shadow Pokemon can be anyway' she thought pushing her glasses farther up her face. Ever since XD001 had woken up earlier, they had been examining it and adjusting different chemicals and testing different methods of purification so they could make sure was Shadow Lugia resistant to them.

But like all young creatures, Lugia got bored easily, didn't like being ignored, and no explanation was ever quite clear enough. Maria sighed and crouched down so she could take his temperature again. "Come on open your mouth" she said trying to coax Lugia into listening to her. _You've already done this plenty of times, why are you doing it again? _he asked keeping his mouth shut.

Maria prayed for patience, "Your still young and susceptible to disease, by checking your temperature we can see if your sick or not" she told Lugia as he finally opened his mouth. _Sus...suscep...I don't understand_, Lugia finally said with a frown. Maria wrote down the temperature and handed it to a scientist beside her.

"It means that something small and nasty could get inside you and make you feel very bad alright?" Maria explained adjusting her long brown ponytail. Lugia tilted his head and nodded as she checked his wings. Maria scowled as Lugia started to fidget, "Could you please hold still?" she asked him. Lugia glared at her, _Why don't you sit on your butt for a few hours while people stick things in you and stare at you like your a creature from another world?_ he asked her.

Maria knew he was right; they weren't ignoring Lugia, but they weren't exactly entertaining him either. "Look we have one more test to do and then we'll be all done; you can rest after that" she told him. Lugia grunted and looked away but he still wouldn't sit still.

Maria stood up and crossed her arms; she looked around and grabbed a pen next to her. "Lugia you see this? Remember how you made that desk move earlier? Try doing the same thing with this alright?" she said trying to distract him.

Lugia looked at it carefully before his eyes glowed blue. Lugia used his psychic powers to float the pen around the room. While Lugia was fascinated with his powers Maria attached small pads to his chest and back to measure his pulse and heart condition. XD001's heart was shut now but if it wasn't shut tight enough then he could be easily purified and turned into a normal Lugia.

Maria looked over her shoulder as the door opened behind her. A man wearing red with short red hair and black shades walked in. Maria snapped to attention, "Master Eldes! I wasn't expecting you here..." she said hesitantly.

Eldes nodded, "Master Greevil will be heading back to Gateon Port I came to make a final check on how XD001 was..." he paused and looked past her at Lugia who was floating several pens around his head. Eldes raised an eybrow and looked at Maria questioningly.

"We were having trouble getting him to sit still so I...gave him something to do, sir" Maria explained shifting her feet. Eldes was quiet for a moment. "Good job, as long as Shadow Lugia is content the Master Greevil will be as well. And if Shadow Lugia is content then our test and experiments will be easier on him; your doing your job well" Eldes said with a nod.

Maria relaxed as Eldes turned and prepared to walk out. He stopped and glanced over his shoulder, "Lovrina and her brother Naps are being put in charge of this facility. Shadow Lugia will remain here until it's confirmed that he's healthy and then he will be moved to the Cipher Key Lair in Eclo Canyon. Gorigan will make adjustments to XD001's closed heart there" Eldes informed her before leaving.

Maria frowned,Lovrina was a Cipher Admin and wasn't the easiest person to deal with. She was impatient, tempermental and a bit childish; but on the other hand she was smart and definitly knew what she was doing, she was a scientist in every sense of the word. She got to be one of the top members of Cipher mainly because of her knowledge of pokemon. But that didn't mean Maria had to like working under her.

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Lugia ignored Eldes and Maria as they talked, instead focusing on his powers. He picked up several more pens that were sitting on a desk nearby and circled them around his head. Maybe staying here wouldn't be so boring after all. They dropped suddenly when Lugia felt a large irritation in his mind.

He shook his head and looked at Maria who was deep in thought. She didn't look very happy. 'What is this...this feeling? Is it coming from her?' Shadow Lugia thought watching her as she removed the wires attatched to him. _Is something wrong? _he asked her.

Maria shook her head, "It's Lovrina she's smart but not the most pleasent person to work with" she replied. Lugia continued watching her as she shut down several machines. But the irritation remained, _What is this i'm feeling? _Lugia finally asked Maria.

She looked at him in confusion, "Feeling? What do you mean?" Maria asked watching Lugia carefully. Lugia hesitated he didn't like the way she was looking at him. _It's this irritation, it doesn't hurt or itch it's just...there, _Lugia tried to explain. Maria rocked back on her heels slightly as she thought.

"Anger it's an emotion called anger" Maria answered. Lugia tilted his head as he tried to understand her words, _Emotion? What is emotion?_ he asked her. Maria started to answer and stopped, "Emotion is...it's not really something I can explain" she finally answered. _What about anger?_ Lugia asked as she stood up.

Maria smiled, "That I can explain" she told him picking up the pen's he had been playing with earlier and putting them away. "When somebody does something that you don't like you feel anger. The irrritation you felt came from me; I was angry because I don't like Lovrina's attitude, or the way she reacts to things. You lost your concentration when you felt my anger, thats a reaction" Maria said explaining it in a way that he would understand.

_I think I understand now _Lugia said with a nod. Maria looked up as the door opened, she tensed as a girl with 2 long pink pig tails walked in. "Hello Miss Lovrina" Maria's voice was flat. Lovrina simply nodded and walked up to Shadow Lugia. Lugia picking up on Maria's anger once again, leaned away from Lovrina.

Lovrina smiled, "Oh it is so cute! It's perfect! Absolutely Perfect! Isn't it Naps" she asked turning to a guy standing behind her in white armor. Naps shrugged "Shadow Lugia will be fine, we need to focus on security before anything else" he grumbled, Lovrina looked over her shoulder. "Naps your oh so serious, it can't hurt to look at XD001 for a moment" she told him.

Naps crossed his arms but didn't say anything. "Oh your so fabulous, with this Shadow Pokemon we'll finally be able to rule the Orre region once and for all" Lovrina said with a smile stroking Lugia on the head.

Lugia hissed at Lovrina and pulled back, Maria picked Lugia up quickly before he bit her. Lugia didn't like being held anymore then he liked being petted, but if it ment he was away from that...that woman he would accept it.

Naps sighed, "Sister we need to get going; this desert lab needs to be secured before someone sees us here" he insisted moving towards the door. Lovrina frowned, "But i'm not done here and OW!" she shouted as Lugia bit her arm. "You stupid irritating little..." Lovrina began as Lugia glared at her.

Lugia had his own ideas about who was the stupid irritating one, but he didn't say anything. There was something about Lovrina that he just didn't like...and he wanted her out. Lugia's eyes glowed as he lifted a glass cup from off a computer and hurled it at the back of her head.

Maria held him tight with one arm and reached out and grabbed the cup with the other. She tossed it to Naps as Lovrina turned back to her angrily. Naps tossed it in the garbage and straightend up as Lovrina stormed out grumbling to herself.

Maria took a deep breath, "Thank you" she said to him. Naps shook his head, "I may be your boss but i'll try to keep my sister out of your way so you can actually get something done without her hovering over your shoulder complaining about everything" he said before leaving.

Maria sighed and looked down at Lugia who was staring after Lovrina with a scowl on his face. _I do believe that I now understand anger_ he said slowly. Maria shook her head, "Well try to hold back that temper of your's or your going to be in a lot of trouble with Lovrina" she warned him.

_If it means i'll see less of her then i'll be a perfect little angel, _ Lugia said looking up at her. Maria smiled, 'He's clueless in some areas and so smart in others; Lugia might actually make Cipher number one after all' she thought walking out off the lab and down the hallway, after several turns she came to a room where they normally stored shadow pokemon.

Maria put him inside the biggest cage so he would have plenty of room. "I'll come back later to give you something to eat" she told him as he curled into a ball and prepared to go to sleep. _Eat? _Lugia asked lifting his head, "Never mind" she said closing the cage door.

Lugia tilted his head clearly wanting to ask her somthing else. But instead he layed down and closed his eyes. Maria paused in the door way and shook her head. 'Don't get to attached to him, if you get to attached you'll end up regreting it. He may be cute and small now, but he doesn't care about anyone, as a Shadow Pokemon it just isn't possible ' she thought before walking out.

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DragonMaster Reborn: Well thanks for the reviews in the first chapter, Shadow Lugia has a lot in store for him.

Xadius: Review people! And check out our other pokemon story Elusive Shadows. Peace out!


	3. Let the Learning Begin

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia talking_

Chapter Three: Let the Learning Begin

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"XD001! Pay attention!" Ardos snapped, shaking Lugia out of his dreams. Shadow Lugia had slept throught the night and wasn't being tested or monitored at the moment so Ardos and his alakazam had been showing him how to control his psychic powers. Master Greevil, Eldes and Ardos would be around for another day and Ardos was using the time to train him personally.

Ardos frowned at him, "You can't control your powers, much less learn your shadow abilities if you don't concentrate" he said sternly. Lugia grunted and focused again on the largest boulder in front of him. They were in a large battle arena deep in the lab. All shadow pokemon were tested here before being distributed out to different Cipher members.

It was 9:00 AM and Ardos had been pushing him for an hour and Lugia was tired of it. He had been lifting the same stupid rocks countless times and Lugia was worn out. The largest boulder was even taller then Ardos, and weighed a couple hundred pounds; Lugia hadn't been able to move it yet.

Ardos sighed, and motioned for his alakazam to show Lugia how to do it yet again. "If you keep thinking that it's to heavy to lift, then it will be to heavy to lift, you have to focus" Ardos told him again as alakazam lifted the boulder and set it down again.

_I've been doing this forever...i'm too tired to lift it_, Lugia objected, as he looked up at Ardos.

Ardos took a deep breath, "Look this isn't that difficult, just lift it once and we'll be done here" he said again. Ardos looked over his shoulder as his brother Eldes walked up behind him. "How are things going?" Eldes asked them. _I'm tired and i'm not lifting it, _Lugia scowled at them.

Eldes examined the boulder, "That way too big, it'll take weeks of constant training for Shadow Lugia to be able to safely lift something that big" he said. Ardos recalled his alakazam, "XD001 is more then capable of lifting something like that, he isn't trying hard enough" Ardos responded crossing his arms.

Eldes shook his head, "He's still young we musn't push him too hard" he reasoned calmly, but Ardos wouldn't hear it. "He's the ultimate Shadow Pokemon we need to push him or he won't get any stronger" Ardos shot back. Lugia looked back and forth between the two as they argued.

Eldes frowned, "We may have created him but he isn't a machine and shouldn't be treated like one" he insisted, as Lugia slowly tried to sneak past them. Ardos moved in front of Lugia before he could get very far, "You are not going anywhere until you move that boulder" Ardos said looking down at him.

_I'm not going to move it,_ Lugia said glaring up at him. Eldes cleared his throat to get their attention, "This has gone on long enough Ardos, Shadow Lugia could hurt himself trying to lift that" Eldes said firmly. Ardos made a sound of disgust, "He's a Shadow Pokemon he was created to fight and nothing more" he shot back.

Lugia meanwhile was getting angrier. 'These nitwits can argue all they want but i'm not going to be moving anything, this is pointless' he thought as the boulder behind him trembled a little. Eldes was losing his patience as well, "Your being unreasonable,

Shadow Lugia is not a toy to be played with and then thrown away Ardos, we have to keep his needs in mind" Eldes reasoned his voice level.

Ardos scoffed, "Needs? We created him we can do what we want with him. XD001 is **our** property and was created to obey **us**. Your problem is you care to much about him" Ardos said turning his back on Eldes. "And you don't care about him at all! Pokemon are not brainless machines to be turned on and off at our will" Eldes shouted back.

Lugia twitched angrily, he thought Eldes was being reasonable, but Ardos was going too far. And both were ignoring him. Well if Ardos wanted him to lift the boulder then he would lift it all right, Lugia focused all of his power on the boulders. Eldes and Ardos were still arguing with each other as the wind picked up.

_ENOUGH!_ Shadow Lugia's voice thundered as a dark tornado formed sucking in everything that wasn't tied, bolted or nailed down. Ardos's jaw dropped as the tornado lifted all of the boulders including the largest one and hurled them in random direction. Eldes grabbed Ardos by the arm and pulled him out of the way as the largest boulder flew towards him. The others flew into the wall and 2 smashed holes in the ceiling above.

Eldes crossed his arms and even though he was wearing dark shades it was obvious that he was glaring at Ardos. "It seems to me that Shadow Storm attack was directed at you" Eldes said his voice level. Ardos dusted himself off and looked over at Shadow Lugia who was quite clearly angry.

"Perhaps I was a bit unreasonable" Ardos grudgingly admitted. Eldes scoffed, "A bit? You all but called him a mindless slave" he said bending down to check Lugia. "How do you feel?" Eldes asked. _Tired and my belly feels funny,_ Lugia complained as his stomach rumbled. He sounded more like a sulking child then an angry pokemon.

Eldes nodded and looked over at Ardos, "I do belive we're done here, i'll take you back to Maria, she'll make sure you have

something to eat" he said standing up. Lugia tilted his head and hurried to keep up with Eldes, Ardos jumped back as Lugia snapped at his foot. Lugia narrowed his eyes at him before following Eldes as fast as his legs could carry him; flying lessons were still a way's off, and Lugia **did not** like being picked up.

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Maria snapped to attention as Eldes walked into the cafeteria with Lugia behind him. "Lugia is here for his meal, afterwards he is to be taken to the third floor so they can adjust his condition" Eldes said as Lugia stared up at all the cabinets and crates around the room.

'The Cafeteria' was really a kitchen where food was prepared for all of the researchers and pokemon; the only people in the room at the moment were preparing ingrediants and vitamins for the various pokemon to keep them healthy and at maximum strength.

After much difficulty Shadow Lugia managed to climb up to a large and long steel table where food was prepared and then sent out. Lugia leaned closer to examine his reflection as they talked, he looked up when he realized many of the humans were staring at him. Maria noticed as well and motioned for all of them to get back to work.

Maria smiled at him, "Well Lugia how do you feel?" she asked adjusting her glasses. Lugia shrugged, _My stomach feels strange,_ he said as his stomach rumbled. Maria nodded and reached for different foods, "When you feel like that it means your hungry and need food" she said holding up a strange red object.

_Food?_ Lugia asked sniffing it. Maria pick up a leafy green thing and held both in front of him, "This one is a fruit, the green one is a vegetable, you have to eat them to grow big and healthy ok?" she said in a way that he would understand. Lugia nodded. Maria looked around briefly before grabbing a bowl and setting it in front of him; it was filled with a bunch of fruits and vegetables that had been cut up.

"Here try these" Maria said as Lugia sniffed it cautiously. Maria smiled and ate a piece, "It's alright, try it" she insisted holding a peach slice in front of him. Lugia tilted his head slightly before taking a small bite, _This tastes...tastes... _Lugia frowned as he tried to find the right word. "Good?" Maria offered as Lugia began eating, "When you like something it's good" she said as Lugia began eating the rest.

_Yes...good it tastes good_, Lugia said bobbing his head slightly as he's savored the taste. _What's that? _he asked looking over at a bunch of shiny objects on the far counter. Maria picked one up, "This? This is a knife we use it to cut things it's sharp and dangerous if not used right" she told him. Lugia swallowed before looking at her, _Dangerous? What is dangerous? _he asked confused.

Maria hesitated as she thought of a way to describe it, "Dangerous is something that could really hurt you " she finally said. Lugia was quiet for a moment, _I think I understand, _he said looking around. _How about that thing? _Lugia asked looking over at a large metal box that was up against the wall. Maria looked over, "That's a refrigerator it keeps food cold so it stays fresh and doesn't make you sick" she told Lugia as he continued to eat.

_And that? _Lugia asked again. Maria smiled at his curiousity, "Thats a microwave we use it to make things warm" she told him. _Okay...what that? _he asked once again. Maria shook her head, it was going to be a long morning.

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After giving Lugia something to eat Maria took him down so they could study and adjust his closed heart. The tests were important but for Shadow Lugia they were pretty boring so to get him to sit still Maria began teaching him about different things. Emotions, food, other pokemon, and anything else she could think of to keep him occupied. And Lugia for his part soaked up everything she told him like a sponge.

Lugia sighed as they hooked up several more wires to him. Maria was looking over another scientists shoulder as he typed information in. "All vitals are normal, XD001 will be clear to go to the Cipher Key Lair in 2 days" he said turning to look at Maria. Maria nodded and scowled as Lovrina came in.

"Oh! How is my little cutie pie doing? He's oh so cute!" Lovrina squealed happily her last encounter with him apparently forgotten. Lugia leaned away as Lovrina leaned closer. Naps rushed in behind his sister, "Lovrina! It's about time I found you" he said with a frown. Lovrina ignored him and pressed closer to Lugia. Lugia twitched and tried to keep from biting her again.

Maria said a prayer for patience before moving closer to Shadow Lugia. "Hello Miss Lovrina what brings you here?" she asked politely. Lovrina stood up, "I came to see how my precious Lugia was doing" she said with a smile. 'YOUR Lugia?' Maria thought annoyed by her aloof attitude.

Naps cleared his throat, "Maria and the others can handle things here, we need to hurry if we don't want to be late for our meeting with Master Greevil. He's going to be gone tommorow and he wants to make sure that security here is up to code" Naps insisted. Lovrina continued going on and on about how cute, and powerful and amazing Shadow Lugia was. Lugia narrowed his eyes and gave Maria a look that clearly said 'get her away NOW!'

Maria quickly picked Lugia up and moved him to a table out of Lovrina's reach. Lovrina frowned, and Maria quickly fumbled for and excuse, "Sorry but it's almost time for his...uh his" Maria stammerd. Naps quickly spoke up, "His swim training, when he is finally moved to Citadark Isle he will be spending much of his time in the rough waters there so he needs to build up his strength" Naps said covering for her.

Lovrina's frowned turned into a smile "Oh my cute little Lugia learning to swim I just have to go and watch!" she squealed in delight. _Nice job genius _Lugia said focusing his power so only Maria would hear him. Maria shoot him a look and cleared her throat but before she could say anything she heard a voice over the loud speaker Miss Lovrina and Naps please report to confrence room #4 immedietly the voice said.

Naps straightend and looked at his watch, "But we're still 15 minutes..." he paused and looked over at Shadow Lugia who stared back angelicly. Lovrina sighed, "Well I guess i'll have to leave XD001 her for now, otherwise Grand Master Greevil will be oh so cross with me" she said before walking out. Naps shook his head and followed her out.

All the scientists in the room sighed as the door shut. Maria stared at the door for a moment before looking over at Lugia. _I woke up really early so I decided to practice _he said proudly. Maria couldn't help but smile "Well Naps did have a point, you can breathe underwater but you need to build your strength so you can stay in the water for large amounts of time" she said signing a sheet before handing it off. Lugia nodded as she picked up up and set him on the floor so he could follow her.

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The desert lab was created to study Shadow Pokemon where the Cipher Key Lair in Eclo Canyon was only to create Shadow Pokemon. The desert lab had many rooms and floors that outsiders would never find or access.

Maria opened a door that led to a large pool. A shadow spheal, shadow snorunt, and shadow carvanha were currently being tested. Lugia scurried up and leaned down to watch the water move back and forth. _Hey, what are those pokemon? _Lugia asked as Maria set him down in the water. "Those are shadow pokemon like you" she told him as Shadow Lugia swam in a circle. _Is that why they have a black aura around them?_ Lugia asked tilting his head.

Maria was surprised, "You can see a black aura?" she asked him. Lugia nodded _Of course I can can't you? _he asked swimming in a circle. Maria looked over her shoulder and motioned for a nearby scientist to write that down. Lugia swam around and went up to the carvanha. The carvanha made a few grunts and Lugia whistled back before swimming back to Maria.

"Well what did it say?" Maria asked as Lugia looked over his shoulder at the carvanha. Lugia was silent for a moment, the carvanha glared at him before turning her back. _What's a human loving suck up? _Lugia asked in confusion. Maria paused and polished her glasses as she thought of a way to explain this.

"Most Shadow Pokemon don't like humans, they obey our commands but thats all" she told him. Lugia tilted his head, _Like? I don't understand what that means,_ he said. Maria shook her head, "Shadow Pokemon like you only look out for themselves they don't care about anything other then helping themselves" she told him. Lugia nodded, _Of course why would you want to help others?_ he said calmly.

Maria frowned and stayed silent for a moment as Lugia swam back and forth. "When you like someone you want to protect them and make them happy, happiness is the oppisite of sadness and pain" she told him not really expecting to understand. Lugia shook his head, _I don't really get it,_ he finally said. Maria gave him a sad smile, "No...I didn't expect you to" she said.

Lugai could tell that something he said had upset her. _Did I say something wrong? _he asked Maria as she walked over and adjusted some controls on the wall. Lugia squeaked in surprise as the water started moving. "In the ocean there are currents places were the water moves in a certain direction, this will teach you to swim with and against them" Maria explained. Shadow Lugia noticed that Maria was avoiding his questions but he didn't bring it back up.

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Ardos opened the door slightly and watched as Lugia swam. 'That Shadow Lugia has made a fool of me for the first and last time' he thought angrily. Next time he trained XD001 he would make sure that Lugia knew who was the boss. And his brother Eldes **would not** get in his way. 'Shadow Lugia is ours to control and i'll make sure he knows it' Ardos thought walking away.

Lugia would know who was in control...even if Ardos had to beat it out of him.

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DragonMaster Reborn: Well thanks for the reviews so far.

Xadius: Ardos is angry, Lugia is confused, and things are heating up.

DragonMaster Reborn: Ardos is not happy and Lugia is right in his path. In the next

chapter things don't go too well for Shadow Lugia.

Xadius: REVIEW!


	4. Pain and Love

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia talking_

Chapter Four: Pain and Love

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Lugia looked up at Ardos as they took the elevator down to the arena. Lugia could tell that something wasn't right. He had just finished swimming when Ardos had come for him, and he hadn't said a word since. Lugia had a bad feeling about this, Ardos was strangly calm. The elevator stopped and Lugia followed him off of it and into the arena.

Ardos stopped and looked down at him. _What now? _ Lugia asked him. Ardos scowled and took a pokeball out of his coat and released the pokemon inside. "This is an absol, your going to be fighting it" Ardos told him. The absol glared at Lugia as it prepared to attack. Lugia straightend up, 'Fight it? I may be the ultimate Shadow Pokemon or whatever these humans call me but I can't fight against that thing!' he thought backing up. He had some control over his powers but not nearly enough to start fighting so soon.

Ardos smiled and it wasn't a nice smile either. "Absol, use bite!" he ordered, the absol jumped forward and landed a solid attack on Lugia. Lugia squeaked in surprise and as the absol finally let go. Lugia whimpered and pulled his wing closer to him, _What...what are doing? Why are you doing this to me? _he asked looking up up Ardos.

"I'm teaching you submission. You were created by humans to obey humans. A little pain will teach you to be more compliant" Ardos told him as the absol attacked again. Lugia flinched back as the absol used slash on him, he tried to use his psychic abilities but for some reason they didn't work. Lugia was knocked back by another bite attack; "Surprised XD001? This absol is a dark type so your abilities won't work on it" Ardos told him smugly.

'This must be what pain feels like' he thought as the absol used slash again on him again. _I will never obey a human like you! _ Lugia hissed angrily. He winched as the absol attacked and continued attacking. When it finally stopped Lugia was covered in cuts, but he wouldn't submit to a human like Ardos.

Lugia thought about Maria, she may be a scientist but at least she was kind to him. Lugia had trouble understanding kindess and compassion before, but now he could see the difference between Maria being nice and Ardos being harsh. But he still didn't understand why Maria would be nice. Doing what was necessary to get what you wanted like Ardos; that he understood, even if he didn't entirely approve.

Ardos raised his hand and the absol stopped attacking. "Grand Master Greevil is your superior you MUST obey him and me whether you like it or not" he told Lugia. _Never! _Lugia snapped back at him. Ardos dropped his hand and the absol began attacking.

Lugia flinched, he didn't want to listen to Ardos but he couldn't take much more of this. He yelped as he was hit by a razor wind attack. Ardos walked up and looked down at him, "Your not leaving until you learn that you are not the master here" he warned. _Is that all I am? _Lugia asked, _A weapon to be used or thrown out at your disposal? A slave?_

Ardos crossed his arms "You were created for the sole purpose of making Cipher the number one organiziation in the Orre Region. If it wasn't for humans you wouldn't even be alive" Ardos shot back. Lugia frowned as he thought about that, _But...but_

he shook his head. 'These humans did create me but...I don't know what to do' Shadow Lugia shook his head in confusion. It made sense that the created should obey the creator but...did the created have to obey when they were treated as a slave? Shadow Pokemon had been created by humans so they should obey the ones that created them...or should they?

"The strong dominate the weak and the weak obey the strong, that is the way this world works" Ardos told him. Lugia thought hard about that, 'The strong dominate and the weak obey...NO!' Lugia thought angry. He was NOT weak, he was NOT a slave and he would NOT obey any human that treated him like this. "Not going to submit? Then i'll force you to obey me" Ardos said motioning for the absol to attack.

Lugia flinched as he was thrown across the arena and into the wall. The absol attacked and continued attacking him repeatedly leaving Lugia covered in cut's and bruises that wouldn't stop bleeding. He winced and looked up at Ardos, Lugia didn't want to obey Ardos but...Ardos WAS stronger and Lugia couldn't move without pain. _I...I...I don't know_ he hesitated leaning away from Ardos.

"You can experience much more pain then that if you like" Ardos told him as the absol snarled at Lugia. Lugia thought about what Ardos had told him. Lugia hung his head and looked away from Ardos, _I'll do what you want,_ _just don't hurt me any more _he finally said staring at the floor, _Please? _he added glancing up.

Ardos smirked and recalled the absol. "Very good Shadow Lugia. Now...who is your master?" he asked stepping forward. Lugia flinched away from him, _Grand Master Greevil_ _is my master_ Lugia answered. Ardos smiled "And any other human he deems worthy" he added picking Lugia up. Lugia twitched but now knew better then to object. 'I was created to obey humans and nothing else' Lugia thought.

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Maria scowled as she checked the needles and bandages in the room. After Ardos had taken Lugia for something or other, she went to a meeting with Lovrina and Naps to update them on Shadow Lugia's condition. He was healthy, and learning very quickly. But Lovrina had complained more then anything that her precious Lugia was leaving so soon.

Maria looked up as Ardos came into the room holding Lugia. And Lugia was bleeding from several large cuts. Maria stood up in shock, "Oh my goodness what happend to him?" she asked as Ardos handed him to her. Lugia was moaning softly as she held him. "He had some rough training" Ardos said simply. Maria was slightly suspicious, as Ardos was probably the one who had been training him.

She gently put Lugia on the table and took medicine and bandages out of the cabinets. Ardos paused at the door and looked back at Lugia, who was staring at the table, before leaving. Maria frowned as she applied some salve to Lugia's injuries. She watched him as she wrapped bandages on his wings. This wasn't the curious, independent pokemon that she had seen the past few days. "Is something wrong Lugia?" Maria asked him.

Lugia looked at her, his red eyes dull,_ Why are you doing this? _he asked her. "Doing what?" Maria asked wrapping the bandages around his wings. _Why are you being so...so_ he pause to find the right word, _Nice...why are you being so nice to me? _he was obviously upset. Maria paused for a moment, as a Shadow Pokemon it was difficult if not impossible for him to understand emotions like joy, love and being nice.

"You may be a Shadow Pokemon but...when I first saw you I couldn't help but like you" Maria told him. Lugia tilted his head slightly, "I know it's hard for you to understand but it's been quite a few months since we first started creating you and now your alive and healthy. I guess i'm getting soft" she said shaking her head. If the other members of Cipher began thinking she was growing to attached to Lugia then she could easily lose her job.

_But why? I was created for the sole purpose of serving Cipher...I was created to fight. Why do you help others? What purpose does it serve? _ Lugia asked her. Maria thought about that, "Would you rather be treated like a weapon or would you like be treated kindly?" she asked him. Lugia blinked, _I would rather have someone treat me the way you do,_ he told her. Maria couldn't help but smile.

She finished bandaging him and started putting things away. "Nobody wants to be useless or alone. Everyone wants to be cared for, or care for something. If we all look out for each other then nobody is angry and everyone lives a happy life" Maria told him. _If you think that way then why are you working for Team Cipher? _Lugia asked her.

Maria sighed, "At first I belived in Cipher's ideals and that Shadow Pokemon where the way to go but now..." she paused for a moment "Now your starting to change my mind. I'm not sure whether creating pokemon with their hearts closed is right or not"

she told him. _I changed your mind? Is that a good thing? _Lugia asked her. Maria smiled and nodded her head, "I guess you could say that" she said resting a hand on his head.

Lugia narrowed his eyes, "Relax, i'm not going to hurt you" Maria assured him. Lugia stayed still as she rubbed under his jaw. Lugia leaned forward and Maria rubbed a little harder. He closed his eyes as she continued petting him. "Not all humans are mean. But it's not easy to trust people either. Especially when someone hurts you" Maria added. _ Your nice...I like you_ Lugia said suddenly as Maria picked him up.

Maria froze as Lugia pressed closer to her and fell asleep. She smiled and walked down the hallway to the room where most of the pokemon were kept. She opened Lugia's crate and gently put him inside. One day he would be the greatest Shadow Pokemon ever created. 'One day Lugia...one day' Maria thought with a smile before turning off the light and walking out.

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DragonMaster Reborn: Sorry I know it's a bit short but hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter  
Shadow Lugia will be going to the Cipher Key Lair to meet Gorigan.

Xadius: Review and tell us what you think of things so far and what about Ardos?

DragonMaster Reborn: REVIEW AND PEACE OUT!


	5. Anger Managment

DragonMaster Reborn: Thanks for the reviews so far, and if this sounds similar to Pokemon The First Movie and what happend to Mewtwo and all that, then sorry. I don't mean for it to be similar. I have the movie but I haven't watched it in a lon time.

Xadius: And the main character will be appearing in later chapters and yes the story will continue even after Lugia is captured And in another chapter or 2 there will be a slight time skip and Lugia will be all grown up. Keep reading and reviewing people!

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia talking_

Chapter Five: Anger Managment

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Lugia had been at the Cipher Key Lair for 2 weeks and had learned to swim and fly. He was a bit upset that Maria hadn't come, but he had learned a lot simply by watching the other humans. They had done all kinds of test to make him more resistant to purification.

He had also learned about things like rank and different positions in the Cipher organization. He learned that Ardos, Eldes, and Master Greevil were the leaders and Lovrina, Snattle, and Gorigan were next beneath them. All of the scientists and Cipher Peons were under them.

Lugia also learned that Master Greevil was most concerned about his happiness. If he wasn't happy then Master Greevil wasn't happy and if Master Greevil wasn't happy then people snapped to attention. Lugia had learned how to get what he wanted that way. After all it was their heads on the line not his.

Lugia fidgeted as they finished the test to seal his heart. His attitude was definitely changing as they adjusted his heart. "Would you sit still already?" one of the cipher peons snapped. Lugia glared at him, and when the guy turned his back Lugia hurled a notepad at his head. The peon whipped around angrily didn't say anything.

The door opened and Gorigan walked in. "Well how is he responding to the treatment?" Gorigan asked looking at Shadow Lugia with a frown. One of the engineers snapped to attention "Everything is on schedule Gorigan sir, XD001 is ready to continue fighting" he informed. Gorigan scowled, "Well then get on it! We don't have all the time in the world hurry it up!" he snapped at them. The people in the room snapped to attention as he left the room.

Lugia narrowed his eyes, Lovrina's childish mannerisms were bad enough without having to deal with Gorigan's constant sour attitude as well. The humans here were just like the ones at the desert lab; they didn't care about him at all. They only saw him as another machine, another toy to play with.

_I wish Maria was here, at least she treated me like I was her equal, and not some brainless slave,_ Lugia thought following the human up stairs to the roof of the building. The Cipher Key Lair didn't have a battle arena so they used the roof to test out the abilities of the Shadow Pokemon they created.

Lugia looked around impatiently, he was bored as usual. He just wanted to get all of this over with. Lugia looked over at the machoke the wanted him to battle; he looked back at the peon behind him. _You've got to be kidding me helmet head,_ Lugia scowled at him. "My name is Davis! And i'm just following Gorigan's orders" he snapped.

Lugia rolled his eyes and simply stepped to one side as the mackoke used karate chop. A single confusion attack easily finished it off. _Are we done yet? This is boring, why do I have to fight such weak pokemon? If you want me to get stronger then it's going to take a long time at this rate, _he grumbled.

Davis wasn't enjoying this 'training session' any more then Shadow Lugia was. "Look you got a problem with this pipsqueak? then take it up with Gorigan or Master Greevil" Davis told him. Lugia hissed angrily but resisted the urge to smack this human upside the head. He hadn't forgotten the 'lessson' Ardos had taught him. So while Lugia wasn't happy he didn't object.

Lugia looked over his shoulder as Gorigan walked up to them, "Well what's the hold-up?" he snapped at them. Davis snapped to attention, "Well Shadow Lugia is unhappy with such...um weak opponents sir" Davis said uneasily. Gorigan's scowl deepend, "Well then do something about it! I don't have time for this! If he's not happy then make him happy!" Gorigan shouted at him.

_I want Maria,_ Lugia whispered to himself. Gorigan looked over at him in surprise, he turned to Davis, "Who's Maria?" he asked. Davis was definitely umcomfortable, "Well um...I..I don't exactly know sir" he admitted. Gorgian looked down at Shadow Lugia, "Well? Speak up! Who's Maria" he demanded.

Lugia seriously considered using confusion on him but instead took a deep breath before telling him, _She's a scientist at the desert lab. And I want her here, _Lugia demanded. Gorigan made a sound of disgust, "I've got a place to run, and machines to build, I don't have time to arrange for some scientist to be moved out here!" he grumbled.

Lugia narrowed his eyes, _I won't be happy until Maria is here, she's the only one who understands me, _he shot back. Gorigan opend his mouth and then shut it, "Snidle!" he shouted. The cipher peon scrambled up to Gorigan, "You called Gorigan sir?" he asked.

"Davis you keep training XD001, Snidle go to the desert lab and find a scientist named Maria" Gorigan ordered. Snidle nodded, "Well sir, my absence would mean a 17 drop in overall speed, resulting in a 25 drop in production and..." Snidle began before Gorigan interrupted him, "The only thing that's getting dropped is you if you don't find this Maria woman!" he snapped at him. Snidle fumbled for an apology as he backed up. Shadow Lugia however was quite satisfied with himself.

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"He wants me? He actually said that?" Maria asked in surprise. Snidle nodded, "He called you by name, he didn't say why... he just demanded you" he told her. Maria turned around and thought about that for moment; sure she had quickly gotten attached to the small Lugia but she didn't think she had THAT big of an impression on him.

She turned back to Snidle. "Very well, i'll gather up my reports and studies about Shadow Lugia and we can be on our way" Maria told him. Snidle nodded and left the room. Maria gathered up test results and other papers before heading down the hallway and outside to the waiting hover car.

Maria wondered how much Lugia's attitude had changed. As they did they're experiments on him Shadow Lugia would become more indifferent to most everything that didn't concern him. He would do what he wanted when he wanted without any regard for others.

She closed her eyes as the desert flew past the window. If nobody interfered this time around then Cipher would control the Orre Region and Shadow Lugia would lead them. But some justice inclined citizen could decide to take on Team Cipher like those 2 kids had before. They took down Team Snagem and Team Cipher by themselves. Now everyone knew about Shadow Pokemon so they would have to be carefull.

After about 2 hours they arrived at the Cipher Key Lair. Maria paid carefull attention to all the rooms they went through, if she was going to be staying here then she didn't want to make Gorigan angry by getting lost. After all he was angry on a normal day.

Maria looked around as they got up to the roof she moved aside just in time to avoid a stantler hurling through the air.

A Cipher Peon recalled the stantler and looked down at the Lugia beside him. "Be more carefull you could hurt somebody like that!" he shouted. Lugia grunted and finally noticed Maria standing there. He whistled a greeting and walked over to her dispite the Peon's protests. Maria noticed that Shadow Lugia had grown at least a foot taller

_Maria! Maybe you can persuade these block heads to get some real pokemon, this is boring, _Lugia said glaring at the man behind him. Maria sighed, "We have to do this, if the pokemon you fight are too strong then you could get hurt and if you get hurt then you'll have to sit through even more boring tests allright?" she told him. Lugia tilted his head, _Well then why didn't they just say that before? _he asked them.

Maria glared at Snidle and the other Cipher Peon, "You didn't tell him why?" she snapped at them. They fidgeted until Snidle made up an excuse about having to talk with Gorigan and left. The remaining man was very uncomfortable; he should be since Maria had a higher position then him. Shadow Lugia however was greatly enjoying this turn of events. He snickered as he stood next to Maria.

Maria made a sound of disgust, "I don't have time for this, what's next in Lugia's schedule?" she asked him. The man pulled out a notepad and looked it over. "Well it says here that he needs a health test before he goes to fight some water pokemon" he told her. Maria nodded, "The medical room is on the second floor, the third door on the left right?" she asked him. He nodded as Maria turned around with Lugia following her.

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Shadow Lugia dodged a swift attack and used shadow storm to defeat a mantine. He rose to the surface and climbed out of the water. Maria nodded, "Nice job your doing better then expected. But we'll have to check with Master Greevil before we can move on to stronger pokemon for you to fight" she told him. Lugia nodded, _Okay that makes sense_ he said stretching his wings. "I have to check in with Gorigan i'll be back in a little while" Maria told him before walking out.

Things were much better with Maria around to explain things to him. Lugia looked up and noticed a Cipher Peon and his mightyena were staring at him. Lugia glared back at them. _What you got something in your eyes? _Lugia snapped at him.

The mighyena glared at him. "I don't see whats so special about you, you just look like a pathetic weakling to me" he grumbled. Lugia hissed at him, _And you look like you couldn't outthink a slobro_ Lugia said turning his back to them.

The mightyena jumped in front of Lugia growling. "I don't care who you are, you're to arrogent for my taste, you need to be taken down a peg or two" he snapped at Lugia. Shadow Lugia considered the situation, Ardos had told him that he existed only to serve humans, and while that may be true, his time here had taught him an important lesson. Humans tried to control those stronger then them through fear. Ardos WAS more powerfull then he was, but most of the other humans and their pokemon were not. And even Ardos had to answer to Master Greevil in the end.

_Back off human, _Lugia warned him. Lugia dodged to the left as the mightyena used crunch. Lugia hissed and ripped a metal panel off the wall and threw it at them. _I'm not warning you again...back off, _Shadow Lugia said again. His temper was short and getting shorter every second. He would not sit back and let these arrogent air-headed humans push him around simply because they thought they had the power to.

The mightyena slammed into him with take down. Lugia grunted as he landed in the water, he shook his head angrily. 'I've had enough of this. I hate these smart mouthed humans, i'll show them a thing or two. I'll show them how powerfull the ultimate Shadow Pokemon really is!' Lugia thought using his power to control the water. It shot up in a large pillar and slammed into the Cipher Peon and his mightyena.

Lugia then used shadow storm throwing them against the wall. He used his confusion to rip machines and computers screens out of the wall. Lugia was mad,madder then he'd ever been before. All he could think about was destroying anything,everything and anyone in sight. Several engineers ran in to see what the problem was only to be slammed back by a wall of water. _GET OUT!_ Shadow Lugia's voice was so loud nearly every human in the base heard him.

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Maria shook her head from the force of Shadow Lugia's voice. She grabbed the wall as an explosion rocked the building. An alarm rang throughout the building as more explosions came. She hurried down to the elevator and when she stepped out was nearly run over by an engineer. "Wait! What's going on here? What happend?" Maria asked grabbing his arm. He shook his head, "It's XD001! That Shadow Lugia! He's gone crazy! Nobody knows why, he just snapped! No one can calm him down!" he said running down the hallway.

Maria ran over and stepped inside the door to the pool battling area. She ducked as a piece of wood flew past her and hit a scientist. Lugia was in the middle of it all throwing anything he could find. "Lugia calm down!" she shouted at him. Shadow Lugia turned to her his red eyes blazing. He hissed at her and she ran as waves of water tried to slam into her.

'He's gone into reverse mode' she realized. If somebody didn't calm him down he would seriously hurt somebody. She looked over at a Cipher Peon who was cowering in a corner. "You! Distract Shadow Lugia while I grab him!" Maria yelled at him. The girl nodded and ran towards the door, Lugia turned his head to look at her and Maria leaped towards him. She wrapped her arms around him and fought to keep him down.

It was anything but easy. Lugia was only four feet most of which was his neck and tail but he was anything but weak. He whipped his head around and bit her arm. Maria winced, and fell backwards. Lugia butted her head and Maria fell on her right arm. She grunted as sharp pain shot up her arm. It felt as if somebody had set her arm on fire. "Lugia..." she grunted holding him tighter with her left arm. "LUGIA! Calm down!" she yelled at him.

Lugia continued struggling but not as hard as he had before. Maria continued talking to him, she moved her right arm slightly and felt a new wave of pain. "Lugia that's good, just calm down. Everything is going to be alright, everything is going to be just fine" she told him slowly sitting up.

Shadow Lugia shook his head slowly, _What...what happened? I've never been that angry before_ he said looking around at the room. There was water everywhere, and several people were hurt. The walls were filled with holes and there was debris all over the floor.

Maria gasped and held her arm as the pain got worse. It was definitely broken. Lugia stepped back, _Did...did I do this? _he asked quietly. Maria was in to much pain to answer, and she knew that Lugia could probably feel it as well. Lugia leaned a little closer to her but Maria couldn't help but flinch away from him.

Shadow Lugia hung his head and moved away from her. _I didn't...i'm sorry I just...I don't know what happend to me, _he tried to come up with an explanation but he didn't know what to say. Why had he lost control like that? He didn't like humans but he had never ment to do something like this.

Lugia looked up at Snidle as he helped Maria to her feet. "I'll take Maria to the infirmiry, Davis take care of XD001 have him monitered for the next hour" Snidle ordered. Davis motioned for Lugia to follow him. Lugia paused briefly by the door to look back at Maria who was doubled over from the pain. He shuddered and followed Davis out.

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Three days had passed since the 'incident' with Shadow Lugia. Maria's arm wasn't to bad but she still had to wear a cast for the next 4 weeks. She hadn't seen Lugia since he had gone into Reverse Mode. Maria took a deep breath and opened the door and walked into the room. Lugia was on the table as the scientists checked him over again and gave him several shots.

Shadow Lugia saw her standing there and his eyes immedietly went to the cast on her arm. He just as quickly looked away. Maria signed off on several reports and the others left leaving her alone with Lugia. He took several glances at her but wouldn't meet her eyes.

_Does it still hurt? _he asked her. Maria felt a sorry for the small Lugia, she could tell he was confused and didn't understand why he had lost control like that. Maria thought for a moment, "It hurts but it'll heal in a couple of weeks" she told him. _Thats a long time..._ Lugia said quietly as he stared at the floor.

Lugia finally looked up at her, _It's not going to happen again is it? _he asked Maria looking up at her sadly. She thought for a moment but didn't know what to say. Not only was it going to happen again, but as Shadow Lugia got older every time he went into Reverse Mode it would get worse.

Maria gently stroked his neck. "Your going to be just fine, Lugia" she assured him. Lugia nodded and leaned against her. _Thanks Maria_ he said quietly. Maria wished she could do something, Lugia may feel bad about it now, but when he became a full grown Lugia he wouldn't care about what he did to other people.

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DragonMaster Reborn: Hope you liked this chapter loyal readers!

Xadius: So click that little button down there and start reviewing!


	6. Questions and Persuasion

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia Talking_

Chapter Six: Questions and Persuasion

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A total of four months had passed since Lugia had awakened; Gorigan had tried every trick in the book to keep Shadow Lugia in his cage. And everytime Lugia had gotten out, and had been found wandering somewhere in the Cipher Key Lair. Right now XD001 was resting after his battle. He was the strongest pokemon around.

Maria carefully wrote down a report that would be sent directly to Ardos and Eldes; Master Greevil would be coming soon to make an inspection. Lugia's head was now at her shoulder, he was growing quickly and by the middle of next year would be full grown. Although he ignored all of the other humans, he had gotten quite attatched to Maria and she was the only one he would really talk to.

She signed the report and handed it off. Lugia leaned closer as she rubbed his neck, "Good job, Gorigan is about ready to send you on your first mission" she told him. Shadow Lugia nodded _To look for pokemon that can be turned into shadow pokemon?_ he asked. Maria nodded "Team Cipher has shadow pokemon but most of them are weak, there aren't many wild pokemon in the Orre region. Gorigan is working on a new machine to mass produce shadow pokemon but is has to be tested first" she told him.

Shadow Lugia nodded, and flew back into the air. His emotions had been chaotic for a couple of weeks but now he was starting to calm down. He followed orders willingly now and no longer argued or asked about everything. Maria suspected that he was a lot smarter then they gave him credit for being. 'But how smart is he really?' she thought watching Lugia.

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Lugia opened one eye and looked around carefully to make sure nobody was around. He looked both ways to make sure no Cipher Peons were in the room before using his power to punch in the code that would unlock his cage door. The door swung open and he stepped out and walked over to the door.

He waited patiently as two engineers passed by. The door silently slid open and Lugia walked down the hallway moving and blanking out cameras as needed. "Hey what the...!" an engineer said in surprise as he turned the corner. Lugia slammed him into the wall; the man slid down to the floor and Lugia nudged the man with his foot to make sure he was really knocked out before he continued walking.

After walking up several stairs Lugia finally got up to the roof. He spread his wings and moved to the highest level. He took a deep breath and relaxed. It felt better being out here in the open air then inside a building being poked and prodded by a bunch of scientists. 'Why did I have to end up here?' Lugia thought staring up at the stars.

'What would have happened if I had been born out there...if I had been born free...' he sighed and shook his head. He could think and dream all he wanted...but things would never change, he was created by humans to obey humans and nothing would ever change.

Lugia looked over his shoulder as Maria walked up to him with a slight frown on her face, "How DO you keep getting out? They change the code every other day" she said watching him. Lugia smiled, _It helps when you can read people's minds_, he said with an angelic look on his face.

Maria shook her head and sat down next to him. "You can really read peoples minds?" she asked him. Lugia nodded, _ It's not very hard most people's thoughts are pretty loud...your thoughts aren't as loud though, _he explained. Maria thought about that for a moment, "I just don't trust people thats all" she told him.

Lugia looked at her his red eyes glowing brightly in the night, _But you trust me?_ he asked her. Maria shrugged, "Pokemon don't lie or decieve you, they always tell you the truth. Pokemon only obey those they respect, they only respect people who respect them; the same is true of shadow pokemon like you" she said quietly.

But he could tell that something else was bothering her. _Are you sure your alright? _he asked. Maria shook her head, "I was just thinking about my...my family" she said quietly. Lugia tilted his head, he had never heard of family before, _Whats that? What do you mean by family? _he asked her.

"Family is...well" she paused for a moment as she thought about her parents. They never approved of her studying pokemon even more so after the former shadow pokemon incident. Then she had simply vanished when Cipher came and asked her to work for them on Shadow Lugia. Maria hadn't heard from or called her parents since.

Lugia hung his head _Oh, never mind...i'm sorry, _he said picking up on her thoughts. Maria shook her head, "Don't worry about me, humans can be confusing sometimes that's all" she said putting a hand on his wing. Lugia nodded, _So in other words you don't want to talk about it, _he stated more then asked. Maria laughed "Yeah that's about right...but more importantly why are you out here?" she asked him.

Lugia looked back up at the stars, _What going to happen to me when i'm no longer needed? When Team Cipher doesn't need me anymore?_ _When Master Greevil doesn't need me anymore? _he asked her. Maria didn't answer, "I'm sorry...I really don't know" she told him. Lugia sighed, _Am I just supposed to follow orders all my life? Just be treated like somebodys science experiment? _he thought aloud.

Maria stood up, "I think everybody, human and pokemon alike ask themselves the same thing" she said following Lugia's gaze. "In other regions it's not unusual for trainers to stay with the pokemon they catch their entire lives" Maria explained. He turned and looked at her, _Really? So what about you? Where will you go? _Lugia asked her.

Maria straightened in surprise, "I...well...i'm not sure, my family isn't exactly fond of me" she said with a frown. "I don't know where i'll go" she told him. Lugia nodded, _If all of this ever ends could I go with you? _he asked. Maria smiled, "IF this ever ends...i'll see what I can do" she assured him, "But for now I need to get you back to your cage before I get in big trouble" she said sternly. Lugia made a face but did as he was told.

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It was 3:00 in the afternoon. Lugia had been tested most of the morning and was now battling once again. Eldes and Ardos watched carefully as XD001 used shadow blast, the attack knocked the steelix and peon clear across the room. The peon recalled his pokemon and stalked away angrily. "How is Lugia progressing?" Eldes asked not bothering to turn around as Gorigan walked up to them.

"Just fine sir, he's excelled in every area and getting stronger every day" Groigan answered proudly. Eldes nodded and frowned slightly as a woman in glasses walked up and started talking to Lugia. After a second or two he recognized her, "Isn't that Maria? She was assigned to the Desert Lab wasn't she?" Eldes asked crossing his arms.

Gorigan was clearly uncomfortable, "Well sir um..." he began. Ardos stared glared at him, "Um what? We assign people to different labs for a reason you know" he snapped. Gorigan was about to answer when Lugia interrupted, _I asked for her to be brought here_, he explained. Eldes lifted his head a little and dismissed Gorigan who hurried away, "Is that so? And why would you do that?" he asked.

Shadow Lugia shrugged, _She doesn't treat me like a mindless experiment, she treats me like she would anyone else, _Lugia told him. Eldes raised an eyebrow and looked over at Maria who was adjusting a machine. "Really? How interesting" he mumbled to himself before walking away. Ardos frowned and followed him.

Lugia tilted his head as he tried to figure out what Eldes was thinking. Unlike most people his thoughts were hard to hear. Lugia looked up as a panel opened up on the side of the wall and wind started blowing. "This will teach you to fly and fight in different wind conditions" Maria told him. Lugia nodded and flapped his wings. He managed to stay in the air as Maria turned the wind up.

After three hours of of constant flying Lugia was worn-out. Maria smiled as she hooked up several machines to check his temperature, heartbeat, brainwaves, and such. She looked up and stood up straight as Master Greevil, Eldes, and Ardos walked back in.

Master Greevil smiled as he looked at the two, "Well well how are you doing Lugia? Are you content here?" he asked. Lugia nodded, _As content as a Shadow Pokemon can be, _he replied. Greevil nodded and looked over at Maria, "And how is your research going?" he asked her.

"Very well Master Greevil, much progress has been made on the closing of pokemon's hearts. And XD001 is cooperating with us very well, but it's still going to take sometime before his heart can be completly closed. If we rush it the results could be disastrous. Even with our best efforts it will be another couple of years before his full potential is reached" Maria explained.

Eldes nodded "Very good, your handling Lugia well. Keeping Shadow Lugia content and agreeable is whats most important. Maria your dismissed" he ordered. Lugia watched as she left, _Is something wrong? _he asked. Master Greevil put both hands on his cane. "XD001 how do you feel about Maria?" he asked.

Lugia narrowed his eyes, he could tell they were trying to get something out of him. _Why do you want to know? _he asked suspiciously. Master Greevil smiled, "Oh it's nothing bad I assure you but we need to know so we can further our research" he explained. Lugia was silent for a moment, how DID he feel about Maria? After all he was a Shadow Pokemon and as such he didn't understand kindness. _I...i'm not sure...I like having her around,_ Lugia told them.

Greevil and Eldes exchanged a look, before Ardos spoke up, "Lugia come with me your going on your first mission" ordered. Lugia was a bit confused but followed Ardos anyway. He looked over his shoulder as Greevil spoke with Gorigan. All of the Cipher peons and engineers bowed to them as the walked by.

Shadow Lugia stayed silent and payed carefull attention as they walked outside. Ardos opened the back of a large van and motioned for him to get in. Lugia got in and looked out the window with much interest as the desert flew past. The sun was starting to set. _Where are we going? _Lugia asked. "Pyrite Town, it has a shady reputation" he explained. _Shady?_ Lugia questioned.

Ardos glanced back, "The people there only care about fighting, and most don't obey the police they simply do as they please" he replied. Lugia nodded _Makes sense to me,_ he said casually. Ardos smirked, "Yes Lugia to a Shadow Pokemon i'm sure it does" he said.

Lugia looked up as the sun continued to set. _How far is Pyrite? _ he asked. Ardos stared at out of the front window as they drove, "About 3 hours from here, we'll get there at night so no one will be able to see you clearly" he told Lugia. "Cipher has been monitering all the towns, and villages in the Orre region looking for pokemon that are being shipped or flown in. Some wild pokemon are starting to appear as wel. Our contact in Pyrite keeps a record of all such pokemon, but he can be difficult to deal with sometimes" he explained.

Lugia nodded, _So you brought me along to tell whether he's telling the truth or not?_ he asked. Ardos nodded, "Your powers will come in handy" he said simply. Lugia sat back and curled up in a ball, he might as well catch some extra sleep.

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Shadow Lugia woke up as the van came to a stop. Ardos got out and opened the back door, "Get out we've arrived in Pyrite" he ordered. Lugia stretched and got out, he walked down to the entrance of the alley they were parked in. The town was pretty run down and there were a few people hanging around. _Not the nicest place around...I like it here, _he said looking back at Ardos.

Ardos dropped a blanket over Lugia, "This will keep people from seeing you, at night around here people avoid one another but we still need to be carefull. We can't risk people seeing you, not yet" he warned. Lugia nodded, _Someone is coming, _he said moving back. Ardos crossed his arms as the man came closer and motioned for them to follow.

He looked both ways before walking down the street. A few people stared at them but quickly moved on, they finally arrived at an old apartment, and the man waved them inside. "I was wondering when you'd get here" he said watching Lugia carefully as Ardos sat down at a steel table. "What do you have to report Mason?" he asked as Lugia looked around at the room.

Mason frowned slightly, "And what who is that?" he asked as Lugia examined the tv set. Ardos glanced back at Lugia, "Don't worry about him we have more important things to discuss" he said ignoring the question. Mason narrowed his eyes, "If you want me to tell you anything, then I want to know who or what that is" he shot back.

Lugia looked over his shoulder and a chair behind Mason instantly slid forward and up to the table. Mason grabbed the table for support and stared at Lugia in shock. _It's not polite to intrude in matters that don't concern you, _Lugia's voice echoed in the room. He lifted his head slightly allowing Mason to see his bright red eyes.

_Now...do you have infromation for us or not? _Lugia added, he already didn't like this man. Ardos however looked satisfied,

"Well?" he asked adjusting his sunglasses. Mason cleared his throat, "Well Duking has been gone lately, he's been studying the possibility of wild pokemon spots here in the Orre region. And the S.S Libra has signed a deal and will now start hauling pokemon food and supplies" he reported.

Ardos nodded, "And what about pokemon?" he asked. Mason nodded, "They will in a few months" he said smoothly. Lugia frowned and a knife on the coffee table shot past Ardos head and impaled itself less then and inch from Mason's hand. _You have an idea but haven't determined for sure whether they'll ship pokemon or not,_ Lugia corrected.

Ardos smirked, "It wouldn't be wise for you to lie to us Mason, after all we can and will take our money else where" he said placing a metal briefcase on the table. He opened it revealing a sizeble amount of money, "Now...can you help us or not?" Ardos asked. Mason smiled, "Pardon my rudeness sir; the best estimate I can give is that it will be 2 to 3 years before they start shipping actual pokemon" he told them.

Lugia stayed silent so Ardos proceeded, "What else have you found out?" he asked. Mason took out a map and layed it on the table. He pointed to a spot on the map just north of Gateon Port, "This is the Pokemon HQ Lab built for the study of Shadow Pokemon. The lead researcher Professor Krane has been building something, it's supposed to help purify Shadow Pokemon" Mason told him.

This caught Lugia's attention, _Does it actually work?_ he asked. Mason shook his head, "Not yet, they're doing some work but it's mostly plans right now, they're working on a snag machine that only catches Shadow Pokemon also but I doubt either of them will work" he explained.

Ardos nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad...here's half the money, find us some more pokemon and you'll get the other half and more" he said pushing some of the money in front of him. Mason smiled, "I'll have some as soon as I can sir" he said opening the door for them. Lugia narrowed his eyes at Mason and followed Ardos outside.

Ardos glanced at Lugia as they walked back to the truck, "Good job Lugia keep doing as your told and everything will go smoothly" he said opening the back of the truck. Lugia nodded, 'I was created by humans to obey humans...I have no other purpose' he thought getting in. Ardos started up the van and silently manuvered out of town.

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DragonMaster Reborn: Hope you liked this chapter next one will be up ASAP.

Xadius: And for those of you who have never played Kingdom Hearts 1 or 2 on the Playstation 2 then hurry up and buy it!

DragonMaster Reborn: It's officially the greatest game of all time.

Xadius: REVIEW! And peace out!


	7. Separation

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia Talking_

Chapter Seven: Seperation

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Shadow Lugia sat patiently in the machine they used to create shadow pokemon. It was slow work trying to make him a pokemon that couldn't be purified. They found that battling was the most effective way to purifiy a shadow pokemon so they had him battle constantly so they could see how tightly his heart was shut and how much farther they had to go. He had been at the Cipher Key Lair a total of 8 months and was getting bigger and bigger. It was November at the moment but by next summer he would be full grown.

Lugia looked over at the Cipher Peon who was monitering him. The peon stood up and let Shadow Lugia out of the machine, he stood behind Lugia and checked the machine carefully.

The notepad beside the peon glowed purple as Lugia picked it up and floated it over to himself, while the peon wasn't looking at him. He looked over it quickly and frowned at the schedule, 'Brainwave monitering next? I don't think so' he thought erasing it. Lugia smirked, and picked up a pencil and wrote something else, 'How about breakfast? I could use something to eat. And then some flight training' he thought placing the notepad back on the table.

The peon finished checking the machine and picked up the notepad, he frowned at it and looked back at Lugia who stared back innocently. "Guess I was just seeing things" he muttered opening the door so Lugia could follow him. Shadow Lugia had to lower his head in order to squeeze through the door. Soon he would be too large to fit through the door. And he WAS NOT going in an ultraball, or any other type of ball...not until Ardos or Eldes ordered him to that is.

The peon passed him off to Maria who had his breakfast already prepared. She turned and smiled at him, "I figured you would try something like this" she said pointing a finger at him. _I was bored, _Lugia objected. Maria shook her head as he ate, she looked at the notepad with a scowl, "You can't do this everyday you know, your going to get in trouble" she said sternly as she watched him.

Lugia moved his head closer to her _Only if you tell somebody...and you won't do that...right? _he asked Maria. She narrowed her eyes as Lugia bumped her shoulder with his nose, _Please? _he asked sweetly. Maria sighed and rubbed under his jaw. He purred and relaxed as she pet him. "If you weren't such a facinating pokemon you would be in trouble all the time" she said as he continued eating. _You must be so proud of me,_ he joked.

Maria mumbled something to herself as she looked at the notepad, "Flight training? Lugia don't even think about it" she warned knowing exactly what he was thinking. _But Maria..._ he began, "No! You won't be the only one getting in trouble i'm in charge of you so if you vanish into thin air then I could get in a lot of trouble" she told him. Lugia scowled, _This place is so confined I have no freedom here or anywhere else, I want to get out of here, _he shot back angrily.

She crossed her arms, "You don't have a choice" she said crossing her arms. Lugia hissed at her, _I don't take orders from you!_ he yelled at her. Maria flinched slightly at his tone, "I'm not trying to be difficult, i'm just telling you the truth Lugia. Your the property of Team Cipher and they don't care about your feelings or anything else concerning you" Maria said carefully.

Shadow Lugia narrowed his red eyes, _So your saying that i'm a nothing more then a slave and that's all i'll ever be? _he snapped at her. Maria rubbed her forehead this conversation was giving her a headache. "Please Lugia I don't want to argue with you like this, i'm just telling you the truth, I don't want to give you false hope. I'm just a researcher so there's only so much I can do for you" she tried to explain to him.

Dealing with Lugia's temper was becoming more and more difficult, for the moment he was very unstable and a few wrong words could and would send him into reverse mode. And with him getting stronger all the time that was a very dangerous thing. Maria wanted to help him but with him constantly escaping it wasn't easy. If something serious happened to him then Team Cipher would make her disappear... for good.

Lugia glared at her, _You can't keep me here forever, i'm going to get out of here eventually. With or without your help, _he warned her. "Please Lugia just calm down, I can't help you if you don't work with me" she tried to reason with him. _Calm down! I don't belong in this...this place! I don't belong here and don't want to stay here. You can't expect me to just sit back and follow orders all of my pathetic life, _he yelled getting angrier and angrier.

Maria thought quickly, if this kept going he was going to go into reverse mode. "Lugia please!" she said touching his face and forcing him to look at her. He narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything, "Please Lugia, I know how you must feel but you have to trust me; Master Greevil, Ardos, and Eldes make the final decisions on everything" she told him.

Lugia grunted _Yeah well...I guess so, _he mumbled refusing to look at her. Maria rubbed his face, "Please believe me Lugia, your my friend" she assured him. "But there's only so much that I can do" she said as Lugia finally looked at her. He was quiet for a while. Lugia could tell she was really upset, and was trying her best to calm him down.

_Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you, _he muttered; he wasn't good at apologies but he was sorry. Maria had always done whatever she could to help him and keep him out of Gorigan's constant war path, but she couldn't do everything. She had to orders just like everyone else did.

Maria looked at her watch, "It's time for you to go i'll see you later alright?" she asked. Lugia nodded and followed the Cipher Peon that came to escort him to his flight training. She watched as Lugia left, 'I'm sorry things have to be like this...if only things could have been different' she thought shaking her head.

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Eldes watched as XD001 glided and dove through the air. He glanced over his shoulder as his brother Ardos walked up beside him. Both were silent as they watched Shadow Lugia. "Do you need something Ardos?" he asked. Ardos adjusted his shades, "Shadow Pokemon as a rule do not grow attached to others, but XD001 is obviously attached to Maria. She has more control over him then we do at times" he explained. Eldes nodded in argreement.

"But even with her here Shadow Lugia is becoming more and more difficult to handle. He insists on having more freedom, and if things continue this way he's going to break out and if he breaks out enough times then somebody is going to see him and find out about us" Eldes said watching as Lugia landed on a ledge near the ceiling.

Ardos frowned, "I think that until he grows out of this phase we should move him to Citadark Isle he'll be able to swim and fly there while we continue our tests" he thought aloud. Shadow Lugia dove down and hovered briefly before landing in front of them. _Isn't there anything else to do around this stupid place? _he snapped already irritated. Ardos looked at his watch, it was only 11:30 in the morning and Lugia was at the end of his rope already.

Eldes tilted his head up slightly; Shadow Lugia was now an inch or two taller then him. "We'll be moving you to Citadark Isle you'll have more freedom and we'll be able to continue our tests. Maria will be moved back to the Desert Lab and you'll stay with us for several months probably until summer" he explained. That caught Lugia's attention, he stared at them and then looked over at Maria who had just walked in and was talking to Snidle.

_Your going to separate us? _Lugia asked calmly, still watching her. Ardos nodded, "You'll grow stronger and faster then you will here, Maria and the other researchers will continue to do research at the Desert Lab" he added. Lugia nodded and turned back to them. He remembered exactly what Maria had told him earlier about him being the property of Team Cipher.

_Are you asking me or telling me? _Lugia asked them. Ardos crossed his arms, "You don't have a choice XD001, you were created by humans to obey humans" Ardos reminded him, Eldes frowned but didn't say anything. Everyone was silent for awhile as Lugia thought it over. _Fine then, when do I leave? _Lugia asked.

"We'll be moving you tonight" Eldes told him suspiciously, he'd expected more of a fight from Shadow Lugia then that. Ardos motioned for Maria to come over, "Yes what is it?" she asked him. "Eldes and I have decided to move you back to the Desert Lab and XD001 will be moved to Citadark Isle for a year or two until he is full grown" Ardos told her.

Maria frowned slightly but didn't object. "We'll be moving both of you tonight, hurry and make any needed preparations" Ardos ordered waving her off. Maria looked over at Shadow Lugia for a moment before nodding slightly and leaving. Ardos nodded to his brother before walking away.

Eldes watched Lugia for a moment before turning around and walking away, he paused for a moment before looking over his shoulder. "By the way Lugia..." he began, "Next time you change your schedule try to be a little more subtle" Eldes told him. Lugia stiffened, _You knew about that? _he asked is surprise, Eldes smiled at him "All psychic pokemon we work on try it, whether they're Shadow Pokemon or not" he said leaving.

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Shadow Lugia sighed and looked up at the sunset, he had several hours of constant tests and was waiting outside for the helicopters to finish getting preparing. They were going to guide him as he flew from the Cipher Key Lair to the Desert Lab the would drop Maria off there and after a short rest for him, fly straight to Citadark Isle.

"Lugia?" he looked back and saw Maria walking up to him. "Are you ready for this? This will be the farthest you've ever flown" she reminded him. He scoffed, _I'll be fine I just can't wait to hurry up and get out of this stupid place_, he said focusing his power so only Maria could hear him.

She smiled, "Just try and keep your temper under control alright?" Maria asked him. Lugia nodded, _Will I ever see you again? _he asked suddenly. She thought for a moment, "Sure you will, even if it's years down the road we'll meet each other again" Maria assured him. Shadow Lugia looked down at her, _Are you sure? Once they perfect the process of making unpurifiable Shadow Pokemon what's to stop them from getting rid of you? _Lugia asked her.

Maria frowned, she hadn't thought of that before. "Don't worry that day is a long way's off, and when it comes i'll be ready" she told him. Lugia tilted his head, _One day Shadow Pokemon will rule the Orre Region, thats what Master Greevil wants. Pokemon that obey only him, pokemon that nobody can defeat..._ Lugia thought aloud.

Both were silent for a moment before Maria rubbed his neck, "Things will work out, and one day we'll meet again, just as long as you don't forget about me that is" she said as he leaned closer to her. _I may have attitude problems but I could never forget about everything you've done to help me...I promise_ Lugia said bumping her shoulder.

Maria was surprised that he knew what a promise was. She shook her head, "Well if you promise then i'll belive you" Maria said as the helicopters started up. She looked over at them and pet Lugia one last time, "I have to go goodbye Lugia" she said a bit sad. Lugia shook his head, _Not goodbye, see you later, _he corrected her. Maria nodded, "See you later then" she told him getting in the helicopter.

The helicopters lifted up and quickly gained altitude rising above the clouds. Lugia looked all around him, he had never been out flying freely like this before. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before, he couldn't wait to see what Citadark Isle would be like; he would finally have some real freedom for once.

After flying for an hour and a half they stopped for a moment at the Desert Lab to drop Maria off. Shadow Lugia watched as Maria walked inside. After refueling the helicopters rose back into the air and headed towards Citadark Isle. Night had fallen and it was strange but nice to be flying at night.

Lugia looked down as they flew over Pyrite Town, maybe one day he would be able to do this freely without worrying about being seen by someone other then Team Cipher. The day he would finally be free; free to go where he wanted, when he wanted. 'I just want to be treated as an equal not a servant' he thought as he followed the helicopters as they turned past Gateon Port.

The only humans he'd ever seen treated pokemon as nothing more then weapons for fighting with. Maria said there were other trainers out there, trainers who treated their pokemon kindly, who understood them and were willing to work with their pokemon not bully them into submission. But so far the only person who actually listened to him was Maria, and now she was back at the Desert Lab and he didn't know when he would see her again.

Everything was so confusing, he was somewhat gratefull to Cipher for creating him, but he did want to be tied down and experimented on his entire life. He wasn't sure exactly what he wanted from his life, but he didn't want to continue like this. He looked down as they finally entered open water. After flying a way's out it started raining and the wind picked up. Lugia was glad that he at least payed attention during his flight training, but it was still different to be over the open water flying during a storm.

The helicopter's hovered and headed down towards a large island, Lugia followed them and landed at the dock, the only thing there at the moment was a large yacht. Lugia landed as Master Greevil, Ardos, and Eldes walked up to them. "Luiga I trust your flight here was safe and uninteresting?" Eldes asked him. Lugia nodded as he looked around, _I've never seen a place like this before, is it always storming like this? _he asked them.

Ardos nodded, "We have machines here the can create articicial storms and weather, that way people will never find out about us and our experiments here" he replied. Master Greevil walked up to him, "We'll do some experiments in the morning in the dome on the other side of the island, but for now your free to go where you want" he told Shadow Lugia.

Lugia tilted his head he could tell that Greevil wasn't lying to him but he still couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Are you serious? Anywhere?_ he asked them. Eldes nodded, "You can swim or fly where ever the storm extends, the effects of the storm streatch for several miles in every direction so you'll have plenty of room" he cautioned. Luiga nodded but couldn't sit still, finally he could have some freedom.

"Go on XD001, but be back in the morning" Ardos told him. Lugia nodded and dove into the water, he sighed and looked around at the various pokemon swimming around him. He dove down farther and saw the light flashes of a group of lanturn, he paused as a group of tentacool and tentacruel swam by. Several curious water pokemon swam around him, Lugia could feel their curiosity, they had never seen a pokemon like him before.

Lugia rolled over on his back as he floated through the water, and for the first time in his life he felt something pleasent inside of him, something he couldn't explain. It was a strange feeling that he quickly pushed away. He was a Shadow Pokemon and this was his new domain. And when he was full grown he would do things HIS way, no Cipher member would ever mistreat him again. _Not Ardos and not even Grand Master Greevil, things will be done my way or they won't be done at all,_ he thought aloud. Satisfied with his reasoning Lugia turned and swam away.

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DragonMaster Reborn: Next chapter Shadow Lugia is grown and helps steal the S.S. Libra

Xadius: Review! And stay tuned for the next chapter. It will be up ASAP

DragonMaster Reborn: REVIEW! And peace out everyone!


	8. SS Libra

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia Talking_

Chapter Eight: S.S Libra

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A few years had passed since Shadow Lugia had awakened and he was now full grown. One of the helicopter pilots walked up to him and motioned for him to lower his head. The pilot reached up and placed a receiver in Lugia's ear, "It's cloudy here at Citadark Isle but when we reach the S.S. Libra the sun will be rising and the sky will be clear, you'll have to move fast and fly high so nobody see's us" he reminded Lugia.

Shadow Lugia nodded, they had been over this a thousand times he knew exactly what to do and where to go. _I know what to do human, _he snapped at the pilot _Are we going to be moving out anytime this century or not? _he asked irritated at all the preparation. _I could have been at Gorigan's Lair and back by now,_ Lugia hissed shifting back and forth.

Eldes looked at the pilot, "He has a point, are you ready to leave yet?" he asked them. The pilot bowed to Eldes, "Almost sir, we're making the final preparations right now, we'll be leaving any minute now" he replied. Eldes nodded and looked up at Lugia, "And you XD001? How are you doing so far?" he asked. Lugia rolled his eyes, _The sooner we leave the sooner i'll be done with this job, _he replied his short temper getting shorter by the minute. "We're ready to lift off!" a voice shouted as the helicopters started up.

Eldes backed up and nodded to Shadow Lugia who flapped his wings and flew up above the helicopters, he hovered there until they lifted off and led the way for him. 'These pathetic humans...always relying on pokemon to do their work for them'Lugia thought as they headed towards the setting sun.

It was only 30 minutes before Lugia saw the S.S Libra below them, Lugia tilted his head as the receiver in his ear hissed and one of the pilots spoke to him. "Alright Lugia there it is" he pointed out, "Swoop down and grab it quickly there are other ships in the area so we have to move fast" he ordered. Shadow Lugia nodded and adjusted his flight so he was directly over the cargo ship.

Two of the people on the boat came out to look up at what was going on as the helicopters surrounded the ship. Lugia focused his power and a beam of psychic energy extended towards the ship and slowly lifted it out of the water. He grunted from the weight, it was a bit more then he was expecting, but he still had no problem lifting it.

Luiga headed towards Gateon Port and from there they would head south of Agate Town over the Desert Lab and when they got into the heart of the deep desert they would head north to where the Cipher Key Lair was.

'If I last that long' he thought irritated at having to carry the stupid thing all over creation just so they could make more Shadow Pokemon. If they wanted pokemon why didn't they just take a boat of their own and raid the S.S. Libra? They had plenty of other toys to play with. 'But nooooo, they just HAD to have me, the greatest Shadow Pokemon of all time sitting around with nothing to do' Lugia grumbled. He briefly considered how much trouble he would get in if one of the helicopters suddenly 'fell' down to the water.

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Several hours later they were east of the Desert Lab and getting ready to turn north when Shadow Lugia suddenly felt weaker and his hold on the massive cargo ship slipped slightly, he struggled to hold it up as his hold on it strengthed. Lugia shook his head in confusion, 'What was that about?' he thought. They had been having some problems with his powers as they made the final adjustments. Lugia's powers would suddenly cut out at strange moments.

"We have 45 minutes until we reach the Cipher Key Lair hold on until then" the pilot told him. Lugia grunted as his powers suddenly cut out and the ship dropped to the ground, "Oh no the ship is falling! Everyone get out of the way!" they helicopters pulled back as the front of the ship slammed into the ground. The sound of metal tearing apart filled Lugia's ears as the front of the ship tore apart and the back landed several yards away.

They all watched as the S.S. Libra skidded to a halt throwing sand everywhere. Shadow Lugia landed in the sand and sighed in relief at not having to carry the ship anymore. The helicopters decended to the ground and the men got out and stared up at the cargo ship. "Great! Just perfect! Now what do we do?" one grumbled glaring up at Lugia who simply yawned and turned his attention to preening his feathers.

Lugia ignored the humans as they decided what to do next, 'All I know is that I am NOT carrying that ship any farther' he thought calmly. Lugia looked up at a gligar that was watching them curiously, it circled them for a few moments before leaving to find something else. After several minutes of constant arguing Shadow Lugia spoke up for all of them, _Why don't we just go ahead and tell Gorigan what's happened? We're almost there anyway, _he finally snapped making them jump.

They hesitated and Lugia could feel their unease at having to tell Gorigan about what happened here. _Fine, you don't want to tell him? Then we'll just leave this massive cargo ship in the middle of the desert. The S.S Libra is scheduled to dock today at 10:00 am so its not like anybody is going to miss it, ships appear in the middle of the desert all the time right? _Luiga asked casually.

"Shadow Lugia is right, we have to tell Gorigan so that someone can come and recover these pokemon; Snattle is already going through with his operation in Phenac City but there are others around we have to hurry" one man said before they climbed back in the helicopters and headed towards the Cipher Key Lair.

Lugia looked around before following the helicopters. After this he was scheduled to go back to the Desert Lab to complete his final tuning. Then he would go back to Citadark Isle. As they flew he thought about everything he had gone through so far with Team Cipher. All the tests and preparations, to get to this point and now after 5 years they were almost finished.

After 45 minutes they arrived at the entrance to the Lair. The helicopters and Lugia landed with a sigh, now maybe he could get some rest; if they thought he was moving that ship again then they were dead wrong. Lugia looked up as Gorigan and his assitant Snidle came charging down the ramp. "Where is it? What happened?" Gorigan demanded angrily.

Shadow Lugia rolled his eyes, Gorigan hadn't changed in the least. It was only 8:30 in the morning and Gorigan was already on a warpath. The other Cipher members shifted uneasily until they finally pushed one person forward, "Well um...Gorigan sir we kind of um..." he stammered trying to come up with some kind of excuse.

"Well what! What happened to the S.S. Libra! You idiots better not have messed up" Gorigain snapped at them. The man took a deep breath before explaining, "Well sir we were almost here when XD001...um uh...he dropped the ship" he said quietly. Gorigan narrowed his eyes, "Say that again? I didn't quite hear you" he snarled at them. "Well uh Gorigan sir, XD001 dropped the ship about 40 miles south of here" he repeated backing up.

"HE WHAT!" Gorigan exploded waving his fists at them, the pilots flinched away from him as he shouted and stormed back into the Lair. Lugia ignored all of them and waited patiently until somebody told him what to do. The helicopter pilots milled around unsure of what they should be doing.

Lugia looked over his shoulder at them, _Instead of waiting around here for Gorigan to come back and yell at you, _Lugia began glaring at them, _Why don't you head back to Citadark Isle and tell Master Greevil about this so something can be done? The longer you put it off the angrier he's going to be, _Lugia told them. They nodded and hurried off before Gorigan could come back. Lugia sighed as they left, now maybe he could get some sleep.

He was just drifting off to sleep when Snidle walked down the ramp and stood in front of him, Luiga narrowed his eyes, _What do you want from me now? _Lugia snapped at him. Snidle looked up at him, "Gorigan and I are going out to check the damage done to the S.S. Libra and make a count of how many pokemon are on board, you are going to be coming with us" he told Shadow Lugia.

Lugia hissed in irritation, but didn't talk back, instead he waited for the pathetic humans here at the Cipher Key Lair to prepare for their trip to the desert. When they left and got back to the spot where he'd dropped the S.S. Libra the sun had risen and they could see clearly the immense damage done to the cargo ship.

Gorigan stepped out of the hover car and threw his hands up in the air. "Look at this! Look at all of this damage! Now what am I supposed to do? What if somebody see's this out here?" Gorigan said glaring up at Lugia who was perched on the deck of the ship. "This is all your fault you miserable creature! If it wasn't for you..." Gorigan began angrily, _If it wasn't for me Cipher would have fallen apart, and will fall apart, if you have a problem then take it up with Master Greevil not me monkey breath, _Lugia told him.

Shadow Lugia was tired of being pushed around and treated as if humans were so much better then he was. HE was the one doing all the work, HE was the one carrying ships all across creation, HE was the one sitting on his butt being tested and experimented on all the time. Maria told him that most pokemon worked together with humans and were happy to help one another; something Lugia didn't understand.

Lugia narrowed his eyes as he watched Snidle cut a hole in the side of the ship so they could get in. 'How could you be happy serving someone else?' he thought in confused. All the humans he knew were power-hungry savages more or less. Lugia sighed and looked up at the clouds passing by, 'Except for Maria' he thought thinking about her for the first time in years. He felt a bit guilty that it had been so long since he had thought about her.

'I promised I would never forget about Maria and here I haven't thought about her in years' Lugia considered looking at the desert laying before him. 'Where is she? I wonder if she's happy now' he thought with a sigh. He remembered her saying she hadn't talked to her family in years, 'Family...i've never had a family, but I could tell that Maria cared about hers a lot even if she didn't quite say it' Lugia thought flapping his wings and landing in the sand next to the hover car Gorigan and Snidle had arrived in.

Lugia looked up as Gorigan came back out, and pushed all thoughts of Maria out of his head. Lugia was the property of Team Cipher, he was a weapon and to Team Cipher just a toy to play with and then throw away when they were done. For the moment it was his lot in life to obey humans and nothing more. Sure Lugia was glad Team Cipher had created him but if some honest-hearted citizen decided to come and stop try to stop Cipher then Lugia definetly wouldn't shed any tears over it.

Gorigan stormed up to him, "Allright XD001 we're all done here so go ahead to the Desert Lab and they'll make the final preperations, i've got to start moving and transforming all of these pokemon, as soon as possible" he said dismissing Lugia who fought the urge to use shadow blast on him. Instead he loosened a few wires and bolts before flying off towards the Desert Lab.

Those two wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

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Shadow Lugia sat with forced patience as the mechanical arms retracted and Naps removed the wires attached to him. "That's the final adjustment Lovrina, he's all finished and ready to head back to Citadark Isle" Naps told his sister. Lovrina squealed with delight, "Oh my beautifull XD001 is finally all finished! Isn't he just the greatest pokemon ever!" she gushed happily.

Lugia rolled his eyes, he couldn't wait to get out of this place. 'And away from Lovrina, one minute she's all cheery the next she's chewing out her staff' Lugia thought as Lovrina yelled at some poor Cipher Peon. Naps looked up at him and gave Lugia a pat, "I can't believe we're finally done after all these years of preparation. Your the best Shadow Pokemon Cipher has ever created, the one nobody can purify" Naps said with a sigh. _Soon Team Cipher's takeover will be complete...and I will lead, _Lugia added as Lovrina walked over to them.

"Oh Naps! How is Proffessor Krane doing so far?" Lovrina asked him. Naps hesitated and Lugia smirked at his unease, _He hasn't gotten any infromation out of Krane yet, and doesn't know if he ever will, _Lugia told her. Lovrina glared at Naps, "Is that true? We need to know about the purify chamber at the Pokemon HQ Lab as soon as possible, if not Master Greevil is going to be oh so cross with me" she warned.

"I know Lovrina and i'm working as fast as possible but he refuses to tell us anything, he keeps insisting that creating Shadow Pokemon is wrong or something along those lines" Naps said dismissivly. Lugia perked up at that, he had met several Cipher members who felt a bit uneasy at having to create Shadow Pokemon, but no human who had outright refused to serve Master Greevil. Interesting.

Lovrina gave long-suffering sigh and looked back up at Shadow Lugia, "Well I guess you'd better get going, otherwise Master Greevil will be so upset with me" she said backing up and pressing a button on the wall. The ceiling slid back to reveal the open desert sky. They made a special hanger so that helicopters could pickup and drop-off materials and machines for research without going all the way through the building.

Lugia flapped his wings several times to clear the hanger door, he hovered there while the door slid back until it looked as if it had never been there. He was getting ready to head towards Citadark Isle when he changed his mind, and flew towards the Pokemon HQ Lab. His final tuning had taken awhile and it was now 3:00 in the afternoon. It would take about 2 hours to get to the Lab. Lugia wanted to see what the humans there were like.

'I have to be carefull and make sure nobody see's me, not yet at least' Lugia thought pleased with the freedom he had. Over the years as he matured Master Greevil had given him more and more freedom and Lugia wasn't going to do anything that might put his freedom in danger. As long as he checked in at Citadark Isle by dawn tommorow to talk to Master Greevil he could go wherever he wanted to. He would check out the Lab and then head towards Citadark Isle and catch some dinner.

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The sun had set and the outside lights were dimmed. Michael looked up at the stars, they had been searching for Proffesor Krane but so far they hadn't found anything. Michael looked down at Dark Moon his umbreon, "Maybe I was wrong there's nothing out here" he said with a frown. Moon shook his head and continued looking around. Michael yawned and rubbed his eyes, "Come on Moon lets go to bed, if you still feel that there's something out here in the morning then we'll search high and low until we find something" he assured his umbreon.

Dark Moon nodded and followed Michael back inside, he paused for a moment to look around again. Something was out there watching them. Moon shook his head, he was probably jumping at shadows. Everyone was on edge now that Team Cipher had reappeared. Satisfied with his reasoning, Dark Moon went inside the Lab. Not realizing his every move was being watched by a pair of blazing red eyes.

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DragonMaster Reborn: Hope you liked that chapter, next one will be up soon.

Xadius: Keep reviewing people! PEACE OUT!


	9. Starting Over

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia Talking_

Chapter Nine: Starting Over

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Shadow Lugia sat patiently as Master Greevil paced back and forth. Ardos had already left to make preperations, and Eldes was standing beside Lugia watching his father pace. Master Greevil finally stopped and looked up at Lugia, "Michael as you know has been causing trouble with his snag machine and the Shadow Pokemon he's captured. He's already purified most of the one's he's caught" Greevil told him.

Eldes nodded thoughtfully, "He stopped us at the Desert Lab, Pyrite, Phenac, and even the Cipher Key Lair, he's already here and made it up to the second level, it's only a matter of time before he gets up to us" Eldes put in. Greevil nodded, "That's why i'm counting on you and Ardos to stop him, if you can't then I will face him with Lugia at my side" he said looking up at Lugia who stood a little taller. _I won't let you down Master, that child will not defeat me, _Lugia assured him. Master Greevil nodded and walked out of the dome.

Shadow Lugia thought about everything that had happened so far. Michael and his purified pokemon had been destroying Team Cipher's plan's one by one. And now it was up to him, Shadow Lugia, to stop this child. Lugia frowned, 'How could one kid take down Team Cipher so easily?' Lugia thought.

"Are you ready for this Lugia?" Eldes asked interrupting Lugia's thoughts. Lugia tilted his head and looked down at him, _What do you mean? I'm ready for anything, _Lugia said narrowing his eyes. Eldes crossed his arms, "Thats not what I meant" he said correcting himself. "If Michael does manage to defeat Cipher and Master Greevil, then he will capture you and do everything possible to purify you" Eldes told him.

Lugia frowned, _Why? Why would he want to do that? Is there something wrong with me? _ he asked a bit confused. _I can understand why he would want to purify the other pokemon and return them to their normal state, but i've always been a Shadow Pokemon. to me this IS normal, to fix something you have to find a problem with it. And I don't think there's anything wrong with me, _Lugia stated lifting his head.

Eldes didn't say anything, "I must admit I never thought about you in that way before. But if you really don't want to be purified then who are we to change your mind?" he said thoughtfully before walking away. Lugia watched him for a moment before flying out of the dome, he still had a little time left before the battle, if it happened at all that is. Shadow Lugia landed on the rocks just outside the dome and waited.

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Shadow Lugia sat on the rocks, eyes closed as Michael battled Eldes inside the dome. Michael had already beaten Lovrina, Snattle, Gorigan and Ardos and...Lugia lifted his head and opened his eyes. And now Eldes was defeated as well. Lugia flapped his wings and circled the dome waiting for his cue to enter the arena. Lugia turned around as the dome opened up and he flew in. Lugia hovered over the floor for a moment and looked down at the kid. 'So this is the famous Michael who's been taking Cipher down, one plan at a time' Lugia thought landing.

Michael looked up at Shadow Lugia in awe, before frowning at Master Greevil. "I'm guessing this is the ultimate Shadow Pokemon all of you have been raving about?" he asked releasing a houndoom and an umbreon. Master Greevil nodded, "Shadow Lugia the pokemon that can never be purified, you may have defeated the others but nobody can defeat Lugia. And he is only the start, soon i'll have an army of Shadow Pokemon just like him, pokemon that even you and your fancy machines can't change" Greevil said proudly.

Michael shook his head in disgust, "How can you talk so calmly about that? Closing the hearts of normal pokemon and turning them into heartless fighting machines isn't right!" he objected. Master Greevil shook his head, "It doesn't matter what you think your crusade ends here! Lugia shadow blast!" he ordered.

Lugia fired a shadow blast at the houndoom but it dodged, "Fine then! Dark Moon use bite!" Michael ordered as they charged. Lugia narrowed his eyes, since they were dark types his powers wouldn't work on them. Lugia used shadow blast to knock the

umbreon back as it tried to use bite when he was hit from behind by the houndoom. Lugia hissed and used shadow storm on the two pokemon. They got back up quickly, "Moon faint attack! Axel flamethrower!" Michael ordered.

Lugia flew into the air to avoid the flamethrower and used shadow blast on the umbreon but it dodged and slammed into him with faint attack. Lugia grunted and knocked it away with his wing. He flinched slightly as another flamethrower hit him in the back, Lugia used shadow down, followed by shadow storm. When the tornado's cleared both pokemon were down. Shadow Lugia shook his head, 'Pathetic pokemon thinking they could defeat me' he thought smugly looking away.

Lugia hissed in surprise and shook his foot as the houndoom used bite on him and the umbreon's eyes glowed blue. Lugia froze for a moment in shock as the psychic attack hit him and paralyzed him. He cryed out in rage, 'Impossible! A dark pokemon can't use an attack like that!' he thought immedietly seizing the umbreons mind and forcing him to stop the attack.

The umbreon whimpered in pain and fell to the ground, as something hit Shadow Lugia in the side. Lugia turned his head in time to see a masterball open up and Lugia was immedietly pulled inside. He heard the ball lock, preventing escape. Lugia fumed silently, he knew that no pokemon could escape from a masterball but that didn't mean he was happy about being stuck inside it.

'That child planned the whole thing with his pokemon, he waited until I was distracted to attack, and he didn't even shout out an order. His pokemon knew exactly what to do' Lugia thought relaxing slightly. 'I've never seen or heard of a pokemon and trainer working so well together. To come this far he must really believe in what he's doing' Shadow Lugia thought. The kid Michael reminded him of...'Of Maria' Lugia thought sadly. 'My friend...the only real friend i've ever had' he considered. 'It would seem Team Cipher has been defeated again. I now have a new master, a stronger master' Lugia thought not really upset, a bit irritated at being stuck in this thing, but not really upset at the rest of the situation.

Shadow Lugia thought about what Eldes had said earlier about them trying to purify him if he was caught. 'They may have captured me and I will obey him...' Lugia hadn't forgotten the 'lesson' Ardos had taught him, that he exsisted only to serve humans; 'But they will not change me...i'm not sick or broken, i'm just fine and they WON'T purify me,' the thought really bothered him. 'There's nothing wrong with me' Lugia considered, 'I'm fine, i'm normal, there's nothing wrong with me, nothing at all...' but Lugia was a bit unsure if that was true.

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After being smothered with praise and attention for defeating Team Cipher, Michael had been forced by his mother Lily to lay down. Dark Moon was sleeping at the foot of his bed and all of his other pokemon were wandering around the Lab. So he hadn't told Proffessor Krane about Shadow Lugia yet. The purify chamber was filled up at the moment anyway.

Michael frowned and set the masterball down before picking it up again; 'I wonder if it really is impossible to purify this Lugia' he thought putting on the masterball on his belt. Michael shook his head, 'No, there must be away to purify him, he has a heart like every other pokemon so there must be a way to change him' he thought getting up. Dark Moon opened one eye to look at Michael as he left, before slipping under the bed covers where it was warmer and falling back asleep.

After getting a sandwich to eat Michael walked outside and saw Proffessor Krane standing there. "Proffessor Krane I want you to look at this!" Michael shouted running up to him. "Michael, it's good to see you up, did you need something?" Krane asked with a smile. Michael held up the masterball Krane had given him; "This is Shadow Lugia, and I think it's the ultimate Shadow Pokemon Team Cipher was talking about" he said handing it over.

Krane nodded, "Very good Michael, we'll examine it immedietly and check it's level of purification. The Zapdos, Moltres, and Articuno are at the highest level of purification i've seen so far, this Shadow Lugia is going to be even higher" he said heading back towards the Lab. "It's going to take some time but soon all of the Shadow Pokemon Team Cipher created will be completely purified" Krane said as they walked through the door.

Michael heard a scream and looked to see who it was. He sighed when he saw that his sableye, Neo, had scared the receptionist by sticking his head up through the table again. Neo ran over and climbed up to Michael's shoulder, "If your going to scare someone you could at least scare somebody other then the receptionist all the time" he said shaking his head, Neo simply grinned in response.

"Here you go Aidan I want you to examine this Lugia" Krane said handing the masterball to him. Aidan nodded and slipped the the masterball into the machine. Michael sat down on the floor and took out his PDA he checked the shadow moniter briefly before putting in his pocket. He took out a spare ultraball and started playing with Neo while they waited for the results.

"Done!" Aidan said suddenly, distracting Michael who as a result was hit square in the face when Neo threw the ultraball back at him. Michael glowered at his pokemon as he vanished through the wall. "It turns out this really is the ultimate Shadow Pokemon" Krane told him. "We're almost ready to purify a couple of pokemon so we'll have space for this guy in about 30 minutes" Krane said handing the masterball back to Michael.

Michael nodded, "I'm going outside to let him out of the masterball, do you want to come?" he asked looking up. Krane nodded, "Of course we don't know much about this pokemon so we're going have to examine him closely" he said following Michael outside. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath before releasing Lugia. Krane stared up at Shadow Lugia in awe.

"Incredible, but I wonder why his color is different? None of the other pokemon changed color" Krane muttered to himself as Shadow Lugia looked around at the grounds and building before looking down at them. He leaned closer and examined Michael for a moment and then looked over at Proffesor Krane.

Krane smiled, "Hello there my name is Krane i'm in charge of this facility" he said watching Lugia carefully. Lugia snorted and lifted his head. Michael was once again amazed and how big and amazing Shadow Lugia really was. "He's amazing...how long do you think it will take to purify him?" Michael asked looking over at Proffesor Krane. Shadow Lugia immedietly arched his neck and hissed angrily.

Krane tilted his head, "Whats wrong with him?" he asked curiously. Lugia narrowed his red eyes, _There is nothing wrong with me, _a voice in their heads told them. Michael jumped and looked around before realizing where the voice came from. "Lugia?" he asked in surprise.

Shadow Lugia shook his head, _Do you see anyone else around here? _he sneered at them. Lugia shook his head, _You humans and your toys, always trying to fix something that isn't broken, improve things that don't need to be changed. Just because Shadow Pokemon are different that doesn't mean we need to be fixed, _he stated glaring at them. Krane was about to responed when Lugia looked towards the road that ran past the Lab. _Someone's coming, _he said as a news van from ONBS pulled up.

Krane frowned slightly and turned as Pofty and Cameran got out and walked up to them. They began interviewing him and got several shots of Shadow Lugia and asked Michael a few questions about Citadark Isle which was now being examined by police. Lugia was silent until Pofty and Cameran left, he looked down at Michael his new 'master.'

_So I guess that makes you the big hero around here huh? _Lugia stated more then asked. _The kid who defeated Team Cipher and captured me...Shadow Lugia, now all you have to do purify me and you'll be remembered forever right? _Lugia told them sarcasticlly. _After all this is 'for my own good' isn't it? The only reason I exist is to serve humans right? So it doesn't matter what I want now does it? After all i'm just a pokemon what do I know about anything? _Lugia told them extending his wings, he flew up and landed on the top of the building he glared and turned his back on them.

Krane looked up at Shadow Lugia in surprise before turning to Michael who was staring up as his new pokemon. "Proffesor..." he said slowly. "I think we should wait for a while before trying to purify him" Michael said slowly. Krane thought about that for a moment and nodded, "I think your right we still don't know how they closed Shadow Lugia's heart; I'm thinking the way they did him might be different from the way they did all of the others" Krane agreed.

Michael turned to Krane, "He is a different color from all the others...maybe the police can tell us something about what Team Cipher did to him. The police will have Team Cipher's research records won't they?" Michael asked glancing up at Lugia who still had his back to them. Krane tilted his head, "If Cipher hasn't erased them yet that is" he thought aloud.

They both stared up at Shadow Lugia for a moment before Krane went inside. Michael hesitated for a moment before heading towards the pool behind the building. Michael took his shoes off and put his feet in the water; it was only a moment before his sharpedo came over to greet him. "Hey there Kisame how are you doing? I know i'm enjoying the peace and quiet " he asked. The sharpedo grunted and rubbed his head against Michael's feet in agreement.

Michael sat in silence for awhile before looking back at the Lab. Kisame turned in the same direction and spotted Shadow Lugia, he nudged Michael and rumbled a question. "Yeah i'll be fine, but i'm worried about Shadow Lugia, he's not like you and the other Shadow Pokemon i've seen. I'm not sure whether we should purify him or not" he said petting Kisame. The sharpedo tilted his head, and spit a mouthfull of water on him. Michael laughed, "I guess your telling me I should stop worrying so much?" he asked as Kisame nodded.

He stood up, "Yeah well, thanks for your support but I think i'd better go dry off" Michael said heading inside. Shadow Lugia watched Michael as he went inside the Pokemon HQ Lab. Lugia narrowed his eyes and looked up at the clouds, 'I wonder where Maria is right now' Lugia thought sadly. Was she still with the remnants of Team Cipher? Or was she somewhere else? 'I wish I could see her again...at least one more time' Lugia thought with a sigh.

Lugia lifted his head as a thought came to him. When ONBS ran that story everybody in the Orre region would see it. 'Maybe Maria will see it as well' Lugia thought his spirit lifting somewhat.

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Maria sighed as the waiter gave her another smoothie. She looked up at the tv in the corner and choked on her drink, Maria finally swallowed and stared at the tv in shock. "Shadow Lugia?" she said not believing what she was seeing. The waiter nodded, "Sure, they say it's the ultimate Shadow Pokemon one that can never be purified. Michael captured it on Citadark Isle, and took down their leader to" he said watching the news story.

Maria stood up, "I need a ride to the Pokemon HQ Lab do you know anybody that can give me a ride there?" she asked as the camera zoomed in on Shadow Lugia. The waiter nodded, "Sure I think there's a tour bus going there in about 15 minutes, if you hurry up you can catch it" he told her pointing to a bus idling just outside the diner. Maria thanked him and grabbed her backpacks and hurried onto the bus.

She sighed as the bus started down the road. 'Lugia...it's been so long since i've seen him' Maria thought taking a folder out of one of her backpacks. Maria fingered several computer disks that held all of Shadow Lugia's information; How they created him as Shadow Pokemon, test results, his growth progress, and everything else about him. She put it back and look at the other folders in her bag.

After Michael had taken down Lovrina at the Desert Lab, Maria had copied all of Lugia's infromation and gathered up all of her reports on him. She had fled to Pyrite Town to hide while things played out. And now that Cipher was gone -hopefully for good this time- she no longer needed to worry about them coming after her.

'I wonder if he still remembers me' Maria thought leaning back in her seat. Sure Lugia had promised that he'd never forget about her, but Lugia was a Shadow Pokemon after all, there was no telling how much he had changed since the last time she had seen him. 'I hope their treating him well' she thought worried about him.

Maria shook her head, 'Lugia can take care of himself, I shouldn't worry about him so much' she thought looking out of the window as the forest rolled past. 'Hold on Lugia, i'm coming' she thought with a smile.

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DragonMaster Reborn: Thanks for reading but sadly this story is coming to an end.

Xadius Dragon: The next chapter will be the last chapter in this story. Thanks for all the reviews!

DragonMaster Reborn: And i've decided to leave the choice of purifying Lugia up to all of you. It can be done but i'm going to let you readers decide whether or not Shadow Lugia should be purifyed or continue in a...different direction. So review and make your choice! I can't update until I get a the very least 3 votes!

Xadius Dragon: Thanks and Peace Out for now!


	10. Purified

DragonMaster Reborn: And here we go with the last chapter of Heart of Darkness.

Xadius: And by your request our favorite Shadow Lugia will indeed meet up with other another Lugia, and learn a few things. Maria and even Eldes will get a happy ending. As well as Lugia and i'll even throw in a few twists for you.

DragonMaster Reborn: Thanks for all the reviews and read on people, read on.

"talking"

'thinking'

_Lugia Talking_

Chapter Ten: Purified  
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Shadow Lugia watched calmly as the sun set behind the trees. He turned and looked over his shoulder as Michael came up behind him. "Hey there Lugia! What's up?" he asked with a smile. Lugia grunted and turned back to the horizon, he had flown up to the roof to get away from Jovi who insited on 'entertaining' him.

Michael had been playing with his pokemon for most of the day. Something that Lugia found quite interesting, he had never seen a trainer get along so well with his pokemon. All of the humans around here were completely different then the Cipher members he'd been around. Everyone here cared deeply about their pokemon, something Shadow Lugia was having a hard time understanding.

He had seen former Shadow Pokemon that looked so...happy now. Lugia had seen others who were happy but had never been truly happy himself. He was slightly disappointed that Maria hadn't arrived, but then again he couldn't expect her to come running to his side.

"Hey Lugia? Are you alright?" Michael asked him. Lugia looked away before answering, _I'll survive, I always do, _he finally said. Michael frowned, "Thats...not what I meant Lugia" he said hesitantly. Lugia knew exactly what Michael was asking him. _I still don't think I need to be purified; there's nothing wrong with me the way I am now_, Lugia told his new trainer as he stared ahead.

Michael sighed, "But why? I mean you can see how happy all the other pokemon are...don't you want that for yourself?" he reasoned trying to get through to the Shadow Pokemon. Lugia thought about that for a moment, but didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure of that, but he did know one thing.

Lugia sighed and hesitated for a moment before answering _I wish...I wish Maria was here, she's the only person who's ever understood me,_ he finally admitted. Michael tilted his head at the unfamilier name but didn't say interrupt Lugia. _Before I headed to Citadark Isle I promised that I would never forget her, that one day we would meet each other again...I just wish I could see her one more time, _Lugia said mostly to himself.

Both sat in silence for awhile before Michael spoke up again, "Well I know your probably not used to being stuck in a masterball or anything else like that so why don't you..." he paused and waved his hand, "Wander around for a while?" Michael asked standing up. Lugia tilted his head, _I'll be back in the morning_, he said and jumped off the roof, he circled a few times before heading towards Gateon Port.

Michael watched as Lugia faded into the distance and thought about what he'd just done. Proffesor Krane would have a miltank if he found out Michael had just let one of the strongest pokemon in the Orre Region leave to who-knows-where. Michael shook his head, 'Stop worrying Lugia will be back' he thought walking inside.

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Shadow Lugia closed his eyes as the ocean breeze swirled around him. He was currently sitting on top of the Gateon Port lighthouse watching everyone, since he no longer had worry about whether or not somebody would see him. Several people had noticed him sitting up there and taken pictures of him. One man had come up to the top not knowing Lugia was sitting there and had nearly fainted when he saw Lugia's glowing red eye's staring at him.

So Lugia sat there singing to himself. He didn't know why he sang...he just did and always had ever since he could remember. After a few mintues he heard a whistle in the distance. Lugia stopped and hummed back; he tilted his head and listened closely as the pokemon whisled back to him. Lugia flapped his wings and headed towards the sound.

After several minutes of flying over the ocean he dove into the water and called out again. He had to find out who this pokemon was. Lugia approched Citadark Isle and lifted his head out of the water. The water's surrounding the island were calm now that the generators in the building were abandoned and shut down. Except for the lava flowing into the ocean, everything was quiet now that everyone was gone.

He climbed out of the water and looked around. _Well hello there! I was wondering if I was just imagining things,_ a voice above him said. Lugia looked up and saw a pokemon similar to him sitting on a ledge. But this one was white and blue instead of purple like him.

Lugia narrowed his eyes as it hopped down and leaned closer to him. _Hmm, not quite what I was expecting...are you sure your a Lugia? _she asked him. Lugia narrowed his eyes, _I could you the same question. Are you a Lugia too? _he asked, his curiosity over coming his irritation.

She bobbed her head, _Oh I get it!_ she said happily, _Your one of those...what were they called again? Oh yeah, Shadow Pokemon right? _she said walking around him. Lugia leaned away from her, _Haven't you ever heard of 'personal space' _he scowled at her. She tilted her head which was inches from his face, _Yeah what about it? _she said blinking. Lugia glared at her.

_Oh! Sorry! _she said backing up. Lugia adjusted his wings and watched her carefully. _By the way my name is Aqua Tempest because I love to swim during storms, whats your name? _she asked him. Lugia froze, what was his name? Sure he was a Lugia but that could hardly be called a name. And XD001 was no more of a name then Lugia was.

Sensing his discomfort Aqua switched subjects, _So where do you come from? I heard your singing in Gateon Port, _she said quickly. Lugia shrugged, _I was created by Team Cipher and was captured here by a kid named Michael, _he explained not wanting to go into all the details. Some things were better left forgotten.

Aqua nodded, _Hey i've heard of Team Cipher! They go around turning normal pokemon into fighting machines, _she said looking at him warily. Lugia looked away and flapped his wings, _I should leave, I don't belong here anymore, _he said preparing to leave.

But Aqua stopped him, _Wait! Don't leave yet...it's just,_ she paused and stared at the ground, _It's just been so long since i've seen another Lugia...sure there are other pokemon around but it get a bit lonly sometimes without another Lugia to talk to, _Aqua told him.

Lugia thought about that, and it made sense. He'd always been the only Lugia around; heck he didn't know other Lugia's even existed. _ Well...maybe I could stay, _Lugia finally said. She grinned, _Great! So is this place really abandoned now? Cause I was thinking about making it my new home, _Aqua said examining the elevator that lead to the very top of the Isle.

He nodded, _There might be a few police coming in and out, but other then that there shouldn't be anyone here, _Lugia replied. Aqua paused and stared at him, _Police? What are police? _she asked him. Lugia stared at her in surprise, _You've never heard of police? You really are wild aren't you? _he said in shock.

Aqua frowned, _Well of course isn't that obvious? My mother told me all about trainers and such but other then that I never paid much attention to all of her stories, except the one about Kyogre and Groudon that was cool,_ she told him happily.

Lugia sat back and listen as she told him different stories, but what was most interesting was how she had grown up in the ocean, it was completly different from everything he had gone through. He had also never met a pokemon that liked to talk so much. All the pokemon he knew simply followed orders, ignored orders they didn't like, or ignored everyone and everything except the trainer they were assigned to.

And Aqua didn't really mind living along with humans, where Lugia had always viewed it as burden. He had always dreamed of being free. But while Aqua valued her freedom she didn't really mind if she was captured either. As long as the trainer was a nice person.

_So Aqua what do you think about humans? _Lugia asked her. Aqua shrugged, _Well sure some are bad but some are really nice, and those are the one's you have to hold onto no matter what. Of course i'm not going to be captured if I can help it, but if I am it wouldn't be that bad, _she told him.

Lugia thought about that, other then anger, curiosity, interest and sadness, he didn't have many emotions. But whenever he thought about Maria it...hurt...not physically but something inside him wanted wanted to know that she was alright, that she was safe. _I'm going to find her...no matter what i'm going to keep my promise, _Lugia said to himself as he looked at the rising sun.

He turned and looked over at Aqua, _Thank you for everything you've told me, I think I have a better idea of what I want now, _Lugia said dipping his head. Aqua shrugged, _Sure thanks for sticking around, even if you are a Shadow Pokemon; maybe we can meet again someday? _she asked smiling. Lugia flapped his wings and headed towards the Pokemon HQ Lab.

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Maria paced back and forth glacing at her watch; she'd gotten on a bus in Phenac City and they'd stopped at Pyrite Town to fix a gas tank that was leaking and dangerously close to bursting open. The rocky desert was hard on all except hover vehicles, and converting a bus to a hover car was expensive.

She paced back and forth at the bus stop waiting for it to arrive. It was bad enough waiting overnight for the bus to be fixed, she didn't want to spend anymore time in here then she had to. Pyrite Town didn't exactly have the best reputation after all. Maria sat down next to the other people who were also waiting for the bus.

After checking to make sure everything was still in her bags, Maria sat back and sighed. 'I have to know if Lugia is alright' she thought as the bus finally pulled up. She picked up her stuff and took a seat next to the window. Ever since the news story yesterday she couldn't stop thinking about Lugia and how he might be doing now. 'No, he can take care of himself, i'm sure he'll be alright' Maria thought trying to relax.

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"YOU WHAT!" Aidan yelped. Michael winced and rubbed his ears, he had just told the researcher about his decision to let Lugia wander around. Aidan scowled and paced back and forth, "What were you thinking? He's a Shadow Pokemon meaning he doesn't like humans. He could be hundreds of miles away by now!" he said waving his arms.

Michael smiled uneasily as he tried to pacify his friend. "Well we can't expect him to trust us if we aren't willing to trust him" he said backing up. Aidan pointed his finger at Michael, "If that Shadow Lugia doesn't come back then you, short stuff, are in big trouble! We've all been through a lot to purify these pokemon" he scowled stalking off. Michael was ready to relax when he heard a voice behind him.

"So is it true you let that Lugia go?" Krane asked. Michael nearly jumped out of his skin, "Um well...I mean...it's just" he stammered. Krane held up his hand, "Do you regret what you did?" he asked. Michael stood up straight and shook his head. "Well then you have nothing to explain. Never apologize for doing what you know is right. If however your decision happens to be a mistake then your going to be cleaning floors for a long time" Krane said sternly. Michael nodded, "Yes sir" he said quickly.

Krane was about to say something else when they heard something land outside. They hurried outside and saw Shadow Lugia standing there calmly. Michael was immensly relieved, "Your back! Did you have a good time?" he asked. Lugia tilted his head, _Of course i'm back I said I be here in the morning didn't I? _he said narrowing his eyes.

"So did you go anywhere special?" Krane asked the Lugia. _I met a wild Lugia out near Citadark Isle, she told me a lot of things i've never considered before. And I now know what I really want, _he said looking out towards the road. Krane raised an eyebrow, "Really? And what would that be?" he asked curiously.

Lugia hesitated before answering, _When I was first created by Team Cipher there was a researcher who was put in charge of my care. Maria explained everything to me, and always did everything possible to help me. No matter what the consequences were she always did what was best for me. I promised that I would never forget everything she's done for me, and I haven't; I want to find her, I want to see her again, _Lugia said turning back to them.

He lowered his head, _I...I miss her, _Lugia admitted quietly. Michael smiled, "Hey don't worry i'm sure we'll be able to find her" he said looking over at Krane who nodded, "Sure i'll contact Officer Sherles in Pyrite Town and have him investigate to see if they can find her" he agreed.

_Thank,_ Lugia stopped, _Thank you for your help, _he grunted. Krane smiled, "Don't worry about that, anything we can do to help" he said calmly before heading inside. Michael looked up at his pokemon, "Don't worry we'll find her in no time, she might even be on her way here as we speak" he told Lugia who nodded and continued staring off into the distance.

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Three hours later Michael was watching Aidan and Proffesor Krane as they finished the final adjustment to the Purify Chamber. They had set it to maximum capacity so they could purify Shadow Lugia. He looked down at the masterball in his hand. He had recalled Lugia a few moments ago, since the adjustments were done.

Krane stood up and looked over at him, "Are you ready Michael? Once we put Lugia in, it shouldn't take long, it might even happen immedietly" he said confidently. Michael nodded but couldn't stand still, he couldn't wait to see whether or not this would really work He was just about to place the masterball down into the machine when he heard a voice behind him.

"Um Proffesor Krane? There's someone here I think you should see. She says her name is Maria and that she really needs to see Shadow Lugia" the receptionist said. Michael felt the masterball shake in his hand. A woman with long brown hair and glasses walked in and looked around, she set her bags down just inside the doorway and looked around quickly before her eyes landed on the masterball in Michael's hands.

"I'm Maria, I helped create Shadow Lugia" she said looking over at Proffesor Krane who stepped forward. "Ah yes, Lugia mentioned you, he seemed quite intent on finding out where you were" he said with a smile. Maria looked surprised and then relieved, "He did? Really?" she asked him. Krane nodded and motioned to towards the door, "Let's go outside and you can see him for yourself" he said as they walked outside.

Michael released Shadow Lugia who's eyes immedietly settled on Maria. She held her breath as Lugia stared at her. _Maria? _he asked hesitantly. _Maria is that really you?_ he asked lowering his head. Maria smiled, "Yeah it's really me Lugia, when I saw the news story about you I got here as fast as I could, but the bus broke down so it took a while" she said lifting her arm to pet him.

Michael was about to warn her not to do that, when Maria started rubbing Lugia's face. After all he'd learned that nothing irritated a Shadow Pokemon faster then trying to pet it. Michael looked over at Krane who was just as surprised as he was. Lugia leaned forward and closed his eyes as Maria pet him.

_I really missed you Maria, _he said quietly. Maria hugged him, "I missed you to, and now that i've found you i'm not going anywhere" she told him. Lugia opened his eyes, _Promise?_ he asked. Maria nodded, "I promise Lugia" she replied happily. Michael couldn't help but smile at Shadow Lugia's obvious affection for Maria. Krane looked just as surprised.

Krane cleared his throat to get their attention, "We were just about to attempt to purify Shadow Lugia when you arrived here" he told her. Lugia narrowed his eyes, _I don't want to be purified_, he hissed at them. Maria thought about that for a moment before touching his face. Lugia turned towards her, "Lugia I think you should let them do it" Maria told him. _Really? Why?_he asked in surprise.

"Pokemon aren't meant to have their hearts closed, you deserve to be like all other pokemon. I want you to be able to feel happiness and love...you've always been a Shadow Pokemon so there are a lot of things you've never experienced before" Maria explained to him. "You deserve so much more then this. More then being angry and irritated at everything, I want you to be happy" she told him.

Lugia just watched her for a moment before looking over at Proffesor Krane and Michael. He turned back to Maria and nodded, _I'm not sure about this whole thing but..._ Lugia paused and sighed, _If it means that much to you then...i'll do it, _he agreed. Maria smiled, "Good you won't regret it" she promised him. Krane nodded as Michael recalled Shadow Lugia. They headed inside and placed Lugia inside the machine.

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Shadow Lugia wasn't exactly comfortable but he didn't object as Michael place the masterball down. And the machine was turned on, immedietly Lugia felt different...like his body was changing, it didn't hurt it just felt strange. When the machine's humming stopped Lugia felt as if a great weight had been taken off his shoulders.

He felt lighter and curious about what had happened. The almost constant feeling of irritation and the desire to fight with others was completly gone. Lugia had never felt like this before, he felt...relieved. It was strange, he sensed this feeling in other pokemon and people but had never experienced it himself.

After a few moments Michael released him. Lugia closed his eyes as sun shone down on him, it felt...nice. Before he'd always felt held back and constrained, like a slave or servant, now for the first time he finally felt...free. Free from Team Cipher and their twisted ideas once an for all.

Lugia looked down into the fountain on his left and stared at his reflection, he looked like Aqua Tempest now, the wild Lugia he'd met before. He looked over at a researcher who was playing with his noctowl. He looked over at a butterfree and beedrill who were hovering around the flowers near the building. There were so many things that he had never noticed before now. So many things to see and enjoy.

"Well Lugia how do you feel?" Maria asked him. Lugia bumped her with his nose, so she could pet him. Maria smiled and began stroking his neck. Lugia hadn't minded it from Maria before, but now it felt wonderfull he could feel the love and appreciation that Maria had for him. She would never leave him again. He closed his eyes and a strange rumble came from his throat.

Krane shook his head, "You haven't heard a happy pokemon until you've heard a Lugia purr" he said with a smile. Michael grinned happily, "It really worked! This is great!" he said giving Krane a high-five. Lugia looked over at them, _Thank you for purifying me, for the first time in my life I actually feel happy. But what about my name? Every other pokemon has one, what about me? _he asked them.

Michael thought about that, "Well for most of the pokemon we purified I came up with a name that suited their personality or attributes" he said looking over at Maria. "But now I think you should name him Maria. You know him the best" he told her. Maria nodded and looked at Lugia appraisingly, "How about...Darkheart. What do you think?" she said slowly. Lugia tilted his head, _Darkheart...I like it...from now on my name is Darkheart, _he whistled bobbing his head happily.

Michael cleared his throat and handed the masterball to Maria, "Maria I think you should take Lu...I mean Darkheart with you" he told her. Maria and the newly named Darkheart stared at him in surprise as did Krane. "Are you sure about that Michael?" Krane asked him. He nodded, "Darkheart obviously likes you, he did even before he was purified. You and him belong together" he said placing the masterball in her hands.

Maria couldn't help but give him a hug, "Thank you so much Michael I can't tell you how much this means to me" she said happily as she looked up at her lugia. "What do you think... Darkheart?" she asked saying his name proudly. _I love the idea, it's what i've always wanted,_ he told her. Maria hugged him, "This is the start of a beautifull relationship" she told him. _Darkheart...I finally have a name, _he said humming. Everyone sat down and listened as he sang a long and beautifull song to celebrate the start of a brand new life.

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Seven months later on the rocky coast south of Gateon Port was a house sitting on the grass near the water. Maria took a deep breath and stepped down off her porch and onto the rocks. She walked down and dangled her feet in the water.

The entire coast line here was covered in rock slabs and tide pools in someplaces. The spot where she was at right now dropped 20 or 30 feet down as soon as you got in. It was the perfect spot to live at. She'd handed over all infromation about Shadow Lugia and the other former Shadow Pokemon, all of which had been purified by now. And she'd helped the police with some other things as well, so thanks to that they hadn't arrested her.

The water rippled as a lugia lifted his head up out of the water. Maria smiled, "Good morning Darkheart did you have fun?" she asked him. He whisled happily and tossed a net full of fish up next to her. Instead of traveling to Pyrite Town or Gateon Port for food she had planted a garden and Darkheart would bring her fish that she would bake or grill.

She had all the modern conveniences, after all she had lived at the Desert Lab for years, so she'd been able to pay off the house, furniture, appliances, and everything else. Team Cipher payed their people very well. Maria was happy and had everything she needed.

_I found a lot of old plates and coins, do you me to collect them? _Darkheart asked her. Maria thought about that and nodded, whenever he found something in the ocean she would clean it up and sell it in Gateon Port. Maria stood up and grabbed the net, "I'll put these away and you can go collect those coins you were talking about" Maria told him. She handed him a large sack to put the stuff in and handed it to him. Darkheart took it in his mouth and dove under the water.

Maria went inside and changed to a one piece bathing suit and shorts, she put a t-shirt on put the fish in the freezer, she would clean them later. She made sure everything was off and picked up some coral jewelry and a bag of silver coins that she had polished and headed outside where Darkheart was waiting for her. She picked up the artifacts he had found and took them inside.

When Maria came back outside she strapped the bag of jewelry and and silver coins to the lugia's harness. It fit him comfortably and was perfect for carrying things back and forth to the house. Maria got on and Darkheart flapped his wings and headed towards Gateon Port. 'Having a lugia around definitely has it's advantages' she thought as Darkheart chuckled at her thoughts, _Having a human around isn't so bad either, _he joked looking back at her.

She rolled her eyes and looked down as they flew. Flying around was a lot nicer then taking a hover car even though she had one. After all Darkheart couldn't fly her everywhere, he had things to do as well. But still she wouldn't dream of any other life.

Maria wondered what Michael and the others at the Desert Lab were doing now. _I wonder where Eldes and Greevil are right now? _Darkheart put in. She noticed that he had left out Ardos, not that she blamed him after everything he'd put the lugia through.

20 minutes later they were at Gateon Port. Darkheart landed in front of the antique store and let her off. He loosened the straps and gently handed her the bag. Maria thanked him, "I'll be right out alright?" she told him. She went inside and sold the things she had found and went back outside money in hand. Maria put the money away and was about to leave when she heard a voice.

"I heard that you had managed to purify Shadow Lugia but this is the first time i've seen him since the battle at Citadark Isle" Maria turned and saw Eldes standing there. He was no longer wearing his trademark sunglasses. "Eldes? What are you doing here?" Maria asked him. Darkheart lowered his head and narrowed his eyes at Eldes slightly, _Shouldn't you be in jail or something? _he finally said. Maris couldn't help but snort in a feeble attempt to hide her laughter.

Eldes simply smiled, "In exchange for handing over all of Cipher's infromation and paying some large fines they let us go" he explained. "Of course I don't know where my brother Ardos is at the moment but he can take care of himself. My father has decided to retire the Hoenn region" Eldes added. _Are you here for a reason? _Darkheart asked him.

He nodded, "Yes i'm selling the yacht and a few more buisness we owned here" Eldes told them as he looked up in appreciation at the former Shadow Lugia who stood a little taller. _My name is Darkheart now, _he said proudly. Eldes smiled, "A very good name, you must be a lot happier now" he said as the lugia nodded. Maria smiled at him, "It's good to see you again" she told him.

Eldes nodded "I've changed a lot since my days at Team Cipher, no more Shadow Pokemon for me. I've decided to live a calmer lifestyle" he said returning the smile. Darkheart looked back and forth between the two and grinned, _I'll go wait on top of the lighthouse, i'm sure you two have a lot of things to talk about, _he said slyly.

Maria looked confused before she realized what he was trying to do, "Now wait just a minute Darkheart...!" she began when he flapped his wings and flew up to the lighthouse. Eldes chuckled, "He's really changed a lot hasn't he? Never thought i'd see him playing matchmaker" he said watching as he landed on top of the building. Maria on the other hand was blushing from embarrasment.

Eldes cleared his throat, "Well I do have plenty of time would you like to get something to eat?" he asked. Maria hesitated before nodding. They went to a resturant and talked about everything that had happened, and how they had purifyied Darkheart. When they finished and went outside Darkheart was waiting for them.

She smiled, "Thanks for lunch I had a wonderfull time" Maria told him. Eldes nodded, "As did I. I'll be in town for several weeks so perhaps we can meet again?" he asked kindly. Maria nodded, "I'd...i'd like that" she admitted before Eldes bowed to them and walked away. Darkheart grinned, _I had a wonderfull time, _he said imitating her tone. Maria blushed, "Hey! your the one that set us up" she reminded him. _Mmm hm, that's what they all say, _Darkheart said rolling his eyes as Maria got on his back. "Alright pal let's go home" she told him but she couldn't help the smile spreading across her face.

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Four years later at the Pokemon HQ Lab there was a festival to celebrate the fall of Team Cipher and the end of Shadow Pokemon. They had decided to hold it annually in May and people form all over the Orre Region had attended. Maria and Darkheart were there as well along with someone else.

Michael -who had grown considerable taller- couldn't keep the smirk off his face as he looked at Maria and Eldes, "So I heard that you two are getting married in July does that mean i'm invited?" he asked with a grin. Maria turned red, and Eldes smiled "Yes we are, and you and the rest of the people here are welcome to come" he replied obviously pleased.

Darkheart lowered his head, so Eldes could pet him._ Aww that's so sweet, I feel so proud, _he joked. Eldes rubbed the lugia's neck, "It's amazing how things have changed over the years" he said looking around at all of the pokemon that had been purified. Maria nodded, "It's nice not to worry about Team Cipher anymore" she told them. Michael nodded and Dark Moon his umbreon nodded in agreement as well.

Proffesor Krane walked over, "Yes and thanks to Michael and the help of others in the Orre Region we shouldn't have to worry about Cipher ever appearing again" he said confidently. Eldes nodded, "And i'll help make sure of that, creating Shadow Pokemon is wrong" he added. _Me too, I like things the way they are now, peacefull and calm, _Darkheart told them.

Krane smiled, "Well then we came here to have fun didn't we? So let's go and have some fun!" he told them. Michael sighed and went off to rescue the recptionist who was once again being stalked by Neo his sableye. Krane went to make sure everything was going as planned. Darkheart had become a living slide for the younger kids who were enjoying themselves greatly.

Eldes put his arm around Maria as they watched the lugia playing with the children. "I never would have thought i'd see him this happy" he stated as Maria nodded. "It's good to see him enjoying himself like this, even though he didn't want to be purified at first" she added. They watched him for a moment before walking around looking a the festival booths.

"There are still going to be problems but we'll be ablt to handle them" Eldes said calmly as they sat down. Maria rested her head on his shoulder, "We'll handle whatever comes our way, with Darkheart leading the way right?" she said as Krane asked the Lugia a few questions. They had used Darkheart to give back all of the pokemon Team Cipher had stolen. 'This is the start of a new and wonderfull life' Maria thought, 'And I couldn't be happier' she thought as Darkheart began singing a beautifull song.

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DragonMaster Reborn: And there you go everyone, I hope you liked it.

Xadius: Thank you so much for all the reviews! And check out Elusive Shadows as well!

DragonMaster Reborn: Review and tell me what you think of the last chapter. Peace out everyone! And thank you so much!


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